


A New Age (Erase and Repeat it Again)

by Ukiwakii



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Fix-It, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other additional characters to be added, Sakazuki is not the Bad Guy, Time Travel, but only some bad guys die don't worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 51,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27420151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ukiwakii/pseuds/Ukiwakii
Summary: The One Piece has been discovered. Straw Hat Luffy is the new Pirate King and revealed to the world the truth about the World Government and the Void Century. Akainu can’t follow a Government capable of committing such atrocities, but Im won’t allow him to turn his back on them.Thrown in Impel Down, followed suit by every Devil Fruit user Im can get their hands on, he’s not willing to let his life end in prison.When someone unknown sends him back in time, before Ohara’s Buster Call, Akainu seizes the opportunity to change things for the better. Or at least, his version of better.
Comments: 216
Kudos: 224





	1. The Beginning, Twenty Year From Now

**Author's Note:**

> Please note the Canon Typical Violence tag. I chose not to tag this work as mature since there isn't a lot of violence, but One Piece is still a manga where Whitebeard lost half his face. I'll put warning at the top of the chapters where the violence appear, with a more or less detailed description of what happens in the end notes so you can judge for yourself if you're okay reading this.

Akainu was leaning over the railing of the warship, his eyes looking unseeingly at the ocean in front of him.

Soft footsteps altered him to someone's arrival, and his haki confirmed Kizaru's presence behind him. The Admiral stopped next to him and leaned his back against the railing.

"Regrets ?" He asked idly.

Akainu turned his head slightly to the side to look at him from the corner of his eyes.

"I'll never regret going after pirates." He answered gruffly.

"Hmmm… Still, you can admit that the discovery of the One Piece changed things, even for us."

Akainu didn't answer for a minute.

"I still believe in Absolute Justice." He declared. "But that only concerns the Marines. What the government did during the Void Century isn't right."

"And yet we're following their e~very order."

"Not for long." He whispered quietly.

Kizaru eyes flickered behind his glasses to meet his. He didn't react physically, aware that there were Marines around them that watched their every move.

"I don't know why they called us back to Mary Geoise, but once we've gone back and annihilated the last pirates, the Revolutionaries will make their move. The World Government will ask us to protect them, but I don't plan to follow their orders."

"Hmm.. One would think that your Absolute Justice would have noo~ problem with their actions." Observed Kizaru. "You doo~ tend to disregard civilian casualties in your quest to end piracy."

"I might be ready to sacrifice lives to protect others, but not to this extent. The annihilation of more than half the world population, only to hide what the twenty countries that founded the Government were originally fighting for in the Great War… I won't follow people like that."

"Hmm."

Akainu glanced once again at him.

"Then again, they might have asked us to Mary Geoise because they know we will go against them, and they plan to force us to defend them."

Akainu relaxed slightly at the _we_.

"Like you said, I'm a follower of Absolute Justice. The Gorosei chose me as the Fleet Admiral, despite knowing that the truth might be revealed. They must have expected Straw Hat to reach Laugh Tale given his moniker and the fact that he's a D. I never gave them any reason to doubt my loyalty."

"If you say soo~." Drawled Kizaru. "Whatever happens next, whether the current Government or the next one try to stop us, I won't let them."

~~One Piece~~

They hadn't expected a fight. Even if they did, they were confident in their own strength. Two Admirals, Logias, master of the two kinds of Haki that could be learned and resistant to the third kind. Not even Dragon could win against them, not unless he used the full might of his army.

None of that had been of any use against Im. 

They had learned of their existence at the same time as the rest of the world. The true figure behind the government, more powerful than the Gorosei or the Tenryuubito. The descendant of the line that was responsible for the Great War and the fall of their world into the state it was in.

Neither of them had the time to react. As soon as Akainu met their piercing eyes, he felt a searing pain in his brain, the likes of which he had never felt before. He fell to his knees, a scream of pain unable to leave his mouth just as his eyes were unable to look away from Im's eyes. He distantly heard Kizaku calling out an attack next to him, but it was followed by screams of pain from his fellow Admiral.

His world had narrowed to the red iris circling a black pupil, the edges of his vision slowly becoming black until he could only see the red circle enclosed in darkness.

He felt distantly the snap of Sea Stone cuffs on his wrists, but his body had locked up because of the pain, and he couldn’t even think about moving.

He could still feel Kizaru at his side, the Admiral's presence exulting as much pain as he did, and he lost consciousness.

~~One Piece~~

The first thing he heard was the clang of a metal door slamming shut.

The air surrounding him was cold, the wall on his back hard. There were faint cries coming from far away.

A sound of chains coming from his right made him turn his head to the side and open his eyes.

Or at least, try to open his eyes.

His vision didn't change, still submerged in darkness.

"Sakazuki~." A voice choked out, the pain evident in it. "You're awake."

"Borsalino." He groaned. His body was forced into an unnatural position, his back straight against a wall, his arms chained spread out. He could feel chains against his right leg, the other was sending him too many pain signals to know whether it was chained or not. "Where…"

"I'm afraid we have been sent to Impel Down." Answered Borsalino, his usual drawl nowhere to be found. "I woke up a few hours ago, and it seems like they're arresting every Devil Fruit user they can put their hands on."

"Do you remember what happened ?"

"As soon as you saw Im, you dropped down. I barely had the time to start an attack before I could feel pain spreading from my arms to the rest of my body, paralyzing me. Some Cipher Pol agents came to arrest us, I lost consciousness after that."

"Arms ?" Akainu groaned as the tremor in his left leg grew. "I met Im’s eyes and immediately after I got this… Headache doesn't do it justice. My head still feels wrong."

"Uhuh, I can see~ that. Do you see anything ?"

Akainu froze at that.

"It's all black. Did they-"

"The black of your pupil extended to your iris, even beyond. It gives you a weird look.” He kept silent for a few seconds, before admitting, an odd note in his voice. “They took my arms. The rest of me is fine, totally unarmed. You must have woken up and struggled, or they really have something against you, but you’re missing half your leg." Informed him bluntly Kizaru.

Akainu inhaled deeply.

"I'll make them pay." He swore.

"Even if Dragon takes control of the government, he won't let us out. And we’re the ones that made sure that no break out could ever happen again."

"I'll find a way. You said that they were jailing every Devil Fruit user ?"

"At least every one in the Marines. I saw Smoker and Fujitora, which isn't really a surprise given their stance on justice, but as soon as Ryokugyu got brought in totally disfigured, I didn't doubt my theory much. He's in the cell in front of us, and I'm not sure he will ever wake up."

~~One Piece ~~

The arrivals over the next few days of a lot of Devil Fruit users, all wounded in some way that would hinder their ability to fight using their powers, gave them a clearer picture of what was happening outside.

It was the arrival of X Drake, more than a week after their defeat and subsequent imprisonment, that informed them of Im’s plans.

"He wants to keep us all here." He struggled to explain, part of his jaw having been melted along with his right ear and eye. "To prevent the Devil Fruit from being put back into circulation. He started what he call a cleanse- it's worse than everything I ever saw, worse than even Kaido's most genocidal idea."

"How did you get caught ?" Asked Hina from a neighboring cell. Both of her arms had been broken and kept at an angle that annihilated every chance she had to ever recover, effectively preventing her from using the majority of her arsenal.

"Trafalgar is still alive and fighting, as well as some of the Straw Hats. They're trying to find every fruit user that could help them protect people. They created a refuge in Charlotte Brulée's mirror world, but most people don't have a mirror big enough to get through. I was helping Blueno- the Cipher Pol agent, the one with the Door Door Fruit- move around citizens when Im reached the island. They were hundreds of civilians, packed in Blueno's temporary space between doors, and we had no idea what would happen to them if Blueno died."

"You tried to fight him, uuh~" Asked Kizaru.

"Fuck no !" Drake let out a bark of laughter, before his wounded face reminded him that moving his jaw too much too quickly was a bad idea. A low whine of pain escaped from his throat as he tried to control his breathing enough to go back to ignoring the pain. Tears were running down on the left side of his face, as he was too hurt to think about holding them back. Not that anyone cared here. They were all in pain and trying to learn to deal with it.

"I acted as a distraction." He explained a few minutes later. "Lasted about 30 seconds. Not bad, given that no Admiral lasted that long. Though there are rumors that Ryokugyu got a hit in ?"

"That would explain his state." Answered a Commander from the cell next to Akainu and Kizaru's. He had a paramecia that was a weaker form of the Gura Gura No Mi and allowed him to create vibrations. Or he could, before he lost one hand and half of his other arm.

"He's badly hurt then ? I wasn't conscious when I was brought in." Asked Drake.

"He's totally disfigured." Answered Kizaru quietly. He had liked the other admiral, who wasn't preaching his kind of justice every minute like Akainu and Aokiji, and then Fujitora, had been every time they saw each other. The man had been funny, willing to stand up for himself while still following orders, and probably the easiest Admiral to have a light-hearted conversation with. “It’s a good thing he’s used to going without food, because even if he wakes up I don’t think he’ll ever be able to eat again.”

"The bastard must have thought it fitting given his Devil Fruit." Spat Hina.

"Any news from Dragon ?" Asked Akainu.

"Nothing.” Answered Drake. “He must have been planning to move before Im revealed themselves, because Sabo had been working with back up. He’s burning alive every Marine or agent that works for Im that he can find, and is doing a good job, even though it won’t be enough in the long run. However... nobody had seen Straw Hat since his last appearance, which was not long before you two disappeared.” He said with a tilt of his head toward Akainu and Kizaru. “His crew is still moving around, but none of them had said anything about whether he is alive or not. I think he must have been hurt, because he wouldn’t let his crew fight alone if he can prevent it.” 

And they all remembered Marineford here. Straw Hat Luffy certainly wouldn’t let anything short of being mortally wounded stop him from protecting the people he saw as his.

~~One Piece~~

They had created a sort of watch. Most of the prisoners in the cells around were Marines, and they implicitly trusted each other no matter their divergences of opinions before.

The only way they could know the time of the day was by the meal brought to them, and it wasn’t that regular. Im might not want them dead, but he certainly didn’t care about keeping them in good health.

Still, when they thought it was night, they all tried to fall asleep except for a designed watcher, as to preserve energy and heal as much as possible.

It was Kizaku this night : it had never been Akainu's turn, since he had lost his eyes and his observation haki was spotty at best, his body too weakened by the still open wounds on his leg, the seastone around his body and whatever Im had done to make him lose his sight.

The Fleet Admiral however couldn’t fall asleep.

His observation haki might not work right this moment, but he still had instincts. Decades in the Marines, rising through the rank only through his hard work, he had learned to listen to what his body was telling him, even if he consciously couldn't detect anything wrong.

Still, the first voice took him by surprise.

"There he is. Are you really sure you want to choose him ?"

He knew every voice here, and it wasn't anyone from the surrounding cells. Nobody new had been brought in since Drake, and he would have heard if a guard had come here.

What worried him was Kizaru's lack of reaction.

"Heard that ?" He asked.

"Hmm~ ? No, didn't hear anything… What is it ?" Asked Kizaru.

"He has changed since the discovery of the One Piece. He can lead the Marines on the right path." The second new voice was male, while the first seemed to be female. He felt like he had heard the man talking before. 

"People talking. Close." He growled.

"I can't sense anyone, and I didn't hear anything." Answered Kizaru. Akainu's haki didn't detect anything either, but he knew better than to trust it.

"How can you not hear-"

"Or he could use this to destroy the world further." Argued the first voice, seemingly not caring that Akainu could hear them.

"He’s still the one I’m choosing." Said firmly the second one.

"Very well."

He couldn't hear anything moving, but suddenly he knew that there was someone in front of him. He jerked in his chains, trying to get away from whoever that was. Anybody that was powerful enough to escape Kizaru's attention and was infiltrating their cell wasn't good news.

A hand grabbed his head and-

He blinked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im is supposed to be gender neutral here. I might have gendered them as male sometimes, so please let me know so I can correct it.


	2. The Present, Twenty Years Ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakazuki opens his eyes somewhere familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Marineford didn't look like _that_ the last time he visited. And what is it with Kuzan willingly talking to him ?

His eyes opened, and he immediately recognized Marineford around him.

There were a lot of things wrong with that.

Firstly, Marineford wasn't around any longer. It had been destroyed by Whitebeard, and even though it had been rebuilt since then to serve as the G1’s base, there were obvious differences between the two bases. Namely the fact that “G1” had replaced the word “Marines” on the building. The building in front of him adorned the familiar seagull that had been half destroyed during the Battle and that had been removed after.

Secondly, he wasn't supposed to be anywhere near Marineford, old or new, since he had been chained somewhere in the deepest level of Impel Down. Even using the Tairai current connecting Marineford, Impel Down and Enies Lobby, it would have taken hours to move from the undersea prison and reach land again.

And thirdly… He had lost his eyes in the battle against Im. So _seeing_ the differences in Marineford was not normal.

"I'm usually the one who can be found sleeping when I should be working. Didn't you get Sengoku's summon ?" Drawled someone close.

Okay, and fourth : Kuzan certainly didn't look like _that_. His hair was held back by a purple bandana instead of the sleep mask he had used for years. He had also replaced his usual white coat with a black jacket, the Marine symbol sewn in front of his heart.

He looked young.

He instinctively checked with his haki, suspecting a Devil Fruit to be at play. His observation haki expended, encircling the whole of Marineford, and he could feel the presence of many Marines, but more importantly he could feel the one of Kuzan in front of him, and Zephyr in the headquarters.

No devil fruit was able to affect haki.

If Kuzan was real, if this whole scene was, he needed to play along until he understood what had really happened. X Drake had been talking about the Door Door Fruit, which means that he might have ended in another world if a break out had been happening and the fruit had malfunctioned or Blueno died while using it. He needed not to attract the wrong kind of attention.

"Your laziness must be affecting me." He snapped without heat.

Speaking of heat… He couldn't feel the familiar thrum of the magma under his skin, exacerbating his rage, wanting to be let out and to burn, destroy…

Coupled with Kuzan's look, the familiar hoodie he could feel on his back and the fact that Kuzan was willingly talking to him, even joking, something that has never happened since Ohara, it painted a picture he couldn't believe in.

He stood up from his leaned position against a wall.

"I got Sengoku's summon, of course." He added as he started to walk, Kuzan following him after a piercing look, the man aware that there was something strange going on with him.

Before his Devil Fruit, before Ohara, him and Kuzan summoned by Sengoku at the same time, he could only get think of one thing.

Time to test his theory.

"I heard he summoned other Vice Admirals." He added conversely. "Whatever it is, it's big. None of us got called for Shiki's escape."

"There might be a Buster Call involved. Cipher Pol had been trying to find Saul-" He corrected himself. "Jaguar D. Saul since he released Nico Olivia." Informed him Kuzan. "You were in the New World when all of this happened, right ?"

"I came back recently. I heard about his deflection, but not the event surrounding it." Lied Sakazuki.

"This archeologist, Nico Olivia from the West Blue, was found out looking for the Poneglyphs. The World Government ordered her arrest, and discovered that she and the other archeologist on her home island learned to read the poneglyphs. Saul was responsible for her arrest, but he let her go. Either they have found him and want us to try to catch him, or they found which island Nico is from and have ordered a Buster Call." Explained Kuzan.

"They wouldn't need us all to catch him." Answered Sakazuki.

"Hmm, true. Still, the last Buster Call was against… Douglas Bullet, I think ? So tiring to remember." He mumbled.

"Yes. It has been a few years." Not really. A Buster Call had been ordered on Lodestar Island, the last island on the Grand Line that could be reached by a Log Pose when there were rumors that the Straw Hats were on it. Before that, Bullet, once again, had been the target of one.

Which reminded him that if he had as he thought traveled back in time, he needed to plan what to do not to let the level six's prisoners escape.  
But first, Ohara. Nico Robin's survival, the only reason he now knew the truth about the World Government. A Buster Call ordered to silence this truth, to keep him and the rest of the world in the dark…

He wouldn't let that happen.

He couldn't act against the Buster Call, of course. Too many Vice Admirals and Marines around. But he would let the rescue ship escape. No other Marine had had the courage to follow their orders to this point, even if the goal of a Buster Call was to make sure no criminal ever managed to escape the island, and he had been following his order when ordering the destruction of the rescue ship. Doberman had done the same thing at Enies Lobby, ordering one of the warships and the thousand of Marines it held to be destroyed in the name of Justice.

But he now knew that Justice didn’t come from the World Government. Justice could only be upheld by the Marines that did what they thought was right for the safety of the world. It hadn’t been Justice to destroy the rescue ship, it had only been an order coming from a scared member of the World Government that couldn’t deal with the truth of the Void Century being revealed.

If he found out that an archeologist had survived the Buster Call by disguising themselves as a civilian, he wouldn’t do anything. He could now see that these people didn’t commit any crime that deserved death. He would no longer sacrifice civilian lives to accomplish the goal of the Gorosei, Im’s goal, not unless he was sure that their death would ensure the victory of the Absolute Justice he believed in. One that didn’t come from the World Government, but from his conviction of doing what was right.

~~One Piece~~

Last time, he had taken Nico Robin's escape as a personal failure. He had done everything he could to ensure the death of every archeologist, and she had _still_ survived.

Now, it only meant that it hadn't been too much work to remember on which island she got her first bounty. He took a few days of vacation, officially to recuperate from his fight in the New World (he couldn't remember against whom he had been fighting, and was glad that he always had the habit of filing his paperwork as soon as he could), and departed for the West Blue.

His size still attracted many glances, but with his hoodie on and hiding his Marines cap as well as a set of jeans and trainers, nobody would think of him as a Marine. Which clearly worked for him, as he noticed Nico Robin sitting on one of the benches quietly reading a book. She glanced at him when he sat next to her, but didn't react any other way.

"You should be more careful about how long you stay here. We're the closest island to Ohara, Cipher Pol will start here to look for you. People talk, and a stranger will always attract attention no matter their age."

He could sense the panic suddenly radiating from her as she let her book fall on her legs, her hands crossing over her chest, ready to make limbs appear. A quick glance at the place around her, devoid of any marines or anyone suspicious halted her attack.

"Who are you ?" She asked anxiously.

"My name's Sakazuki." He answered. "I know what you're able to do, to _read_. What do you plan to do, now that you're the only person who has this ability ?" He asked her. Other people were able to read the Poneglyphs - Straw Hat through the Voice of All Things, and certain members of the three eyed tribe, but Straw Hat wasn't even born yet and the three eyed people were hiding themselves well and did everything not to bring attention to their third eye.

She eyed him silently for a few seconds, taking in his relaxed posture, the lack of weapon on his person and the fact that he was clearly alone here, and deemed him not to be a threat.

"I want to become a true archeologist, to discover old and forgotten civilization. I don't- whatever reason they destroyed my island for, I don't want to do that." She knew the reason, of course, had heard the agents accusing her mother of wanting to awaken destructive weapons, but she wasn't going to mention that to a stranger.

"No matter what you want, you have an ability that the World Government is afraid of. They are only waiting for proof that you are still alive to issue a wanted poster."

Her eyes widened at that. "Wanted ?" She repeated. "But I haven't- I didn't do anything !" She protested.

"The World Government doesn't care. They will put the destruction of the warship by Jaguar D. Saul on your hands to justify your bounty, and they'll hope that a bounty hunter will do the job for them. They are already suspecting that you survived, someone must have seen Kuzan letting you escape." _Come on, you're already smart, get the hint…_

"I don't know who you're talking about." She answered, her voice almost calm, but he didn't need haki to see her getting tense again.

"I know Kuzan very well." More than the man knew himself probably : nobody would have expected him to infiltrate an Emperor's crew to destroy it from the inside. Sakazuki made a mental note to see how to help X Drake in his own infiltration. "He is too soft-hearted to kill a child if he can avoid it. He would have let you escape, in the hope that you would be able to live a normal life."

"And you're not ? Soft-hearted, I mean."

"You haven't done anything wrong in my book." He avoided the real answer, _no_. "I'm rather interested in you surviving."

"If I'm doomed to have a bounty, how can I survive ? Escape a government that is willing to use a Buster Call to kill innocent people ?"

"Move around as much as possible, to avoid them having the time to dispatch marines or Cipher Pol agents. Don't trust anyone, no matter how nice they seem. You will be worth millions, and a lot of people are willing to betray even a loved one for that much money. And if you're ever in trouble big enough that you can't see a way to escape, and that it was caused by your ability and not by any other criminal action that you took…" He held out a piece of paper that she hesitantly took. "That's my private Den Den Mushi number."

" And you would help me if I call ?"

"As much as I can. I'm a Vice Admiral.” She didn’t act surprised at that, but he had admitted that he knew Kuzan after all. “I will become one of the next Admiral, even if it will take years. That's not absolute power, but it's still enough to keep the marines off your back if needed.”

She nodded in understanding at that, her gaze resting on the paper clutched in her hands.

“Thank you.” She said, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. Part of her wanted to ask him why, but she was smart enough to know that it was better not to, in case her question made him rescind his offer.

“Don’t thank me. Survive and accomplish your goals, that’s what I’m expecting of you.”

Nico Robin thanking him. He didn’t think he could ever feel more uncomfortable.


	3. Devil Fruits And How To Control Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakazuki finds something in this chapter. You have three guesses to find what it is.

There it was. His Devil Fruit.

Anticipation has been thrumming through him for the last weeks as he waited for this assignment. He didn't remember most of what happened before this one, but the years he had spent as an Admiral, and then as the Fleet Admiral, had made sure that he accomplished them much better than any other Vice Admiral could have. This assured that he was chosen to lead this particular mission.

Nobody would have expected a Devil Fruit as powerful as his to be found here, or they would have sent someone without powers. Luckily for him, the pirate populating this base had put their hand on a real treasure. He had been sent after this crew because there were rumors they were looking to be involved with the Big Mom Pirates and the Marines wanted them destroyed before it would bring the wrath of Big Mom upon them.

He had fought his way in, easily killing every pirate found in his way, the other Marines following his example behind him. They only needed the captain alive for interrogation so didn’t waste any time on the low level grunts.

His pace had accelerated until he had found the Captain private cabin, and in it the chest containing _his_ Devil Fruit. Since he ranked above Rear Admiral, he was allowed to eat any Devil Fruit he encountered in the line of duty without needing permission from the Fleet Admiral. He didn’t think Sengoku -no, Kong, it would be Kong for a few years still- would have prevented him for eating if he reported it just as a Devil Fruit, but had they known it was a Logia he wouldn’t bet on it.

"Is that a Devil Fruit ?" Asked Onigumo, newly promoted to Rear Admiral, as he entered the room Sakazuki was in, cleaning the blood from his blade.

"Yes it is." Answered Sakazuki, tilting the chest toward the man that had been one of his favorite Vice Admiral. He and Doberman both, willing to do what was right no matter how much they would be hated for it. “Everything is over ?”

"Are you going to eat it ? And yes, the captain had been arrested, as well as a man that was trying to destroy important documentation. The others had been wiped out." 

"It would be stupid not to eat a Logia." Last time, he had to get back to Marineford and search inside the Devil Fruit encyclopedia before he had found how powerful it was and decided to eat it. Now that he knew that Blackbeard had obtained his Devil Fruit by betraying Whitebeard after 20 years in his crew, he wouldn’t let himself be vulnerable, no matter how much he trusted the other Marines.

Now, he had recognized his Devil Fruit as soon as he saw it.

"Lucky.” Hummed Onigumo. “That will certainly put you at the top for the advancement to Admiral."

"Borsalino and Kuzan are both powerful and good strategists, and they had their fruit for years now." He remarked.

Borsalino had become Admiral first, taking Sengoku’s place when the man had become Fleet Admiral after Kong’s semi-retirement. The other two Admirals had been old and had their rank for years, and were only staying because they hadn’t done anything yet to be fired, but they were definitely too old to be useful in any fight. Borsalino joining and being half their age had upset the routine they had gotten used to, and it wasn’t too long before they were forcibly retired, leading to his own promotion and then Kuzan’s not long after him.

"Given how much they insisted on promoting Garp the last time, they’ll probably ask him again.” Said Onigumo, and derision could be heard in his voice. Some had seen Garp as even more of a hero when he had refused the promotion after the God Valley incident when he was at the highest of his career, then again when he fought against Shiki at Marineford, but they both knew why he didn’t want it.

Garp hadn’t been afraid to bend the rules to fit his idea of what was right. He hadn’t investigated why Monkey D. Luffy and Gol D. Ace had been raised as brothers, since he knew Garp had wanted him dead for what he had done to Fire Fist, but he suspected that Garp had felt compassion for his long-time enemy and had decided to take care of his son. He wasn’t the kind of man that could accept killing children if he could prevent it.

He had no idea of what had happened to him when Im turned against the Devil Fruit users. Garp had hated the Tenryuubito even without knowing how they had reached their position of power, and wouldn’t have hesitated to fight Im to protect civilians. He hadn’t been thrown in Impel Down, that he knew, and he was a formidable opponent with a Haki only matched by Sengoku and three of the Yonkos.

He wondered if it had mattered when faced with Im’s strange ability. While it hadn’t affected his haki directly, it had done something to his brain preventing him from using observation effectively. Garp was used to fight against Devil Fruit users, but not against someone like Im. He had tried, to no avail, to find what Devil Fruit it was. So far, he had found nothing. He suspected a paramecia and there were so many that not each one had been found. Something to do with the mind, making them feel pain when they were none would be what he guessed, though it didn’t explain the injuries that he had heard Drake or Ryokugyu had.

"It's an open secret what he thinks about the higher ups. I don't know why they-" _keep asking him every few years_ "- have insisted that much when they asked him after Shiki’s escape." He said before the pause in the conversation could last too long.

He wasn’t stupid enough to say out loud that Garp hated the Tenryuubito, but Onigumo knew exactly what he meant.

"I still think you would make a good admiral." Finally said Onigumo.

"Anyone would make a good admiral when you look at who's in place right now." Answered dryly Sakazuki. 

He wasn’t yet used to banter with someone that wasn’t Kizaru, but it was nice. The only people who were willing to talk to him about something other than the job once he had reached Fleet Admiral had been Fujitora and Ryokugyu, and his relationship with Issho had been strained after Dressrosa.

"Sengoku is good. The others… I think they were already old when Kong was still an admiral." Protested Onigumo.

"Sengoku's goat ate Borsalino’s last vacation slip. It's my duty as his friend to hate it, and Sengoku by extension."

~~One Piece~~

He would have thought that this time it would have been easier to control his devil fruit, given that he had already lived with it for more than 20 years. But it seemed some things were destined not to change. At least this time he didn't spontaneously combust in his office. No, it was worse, it happened in Borsalino's office. The man had no shame in using this incident to claim that he had done all his paperwork, and it was Sakazuki's duty to do them again.

Opportunistic bastard.

It had made Onigumo and Kuzan hang out more, both of them reuniting in Borsalino's office to watch him go through a mountain of paperwork and silently taunting him. They knew better than to openly mock him, or at least Onigumo did, but he could feel the laugh in their eyes.

Even Yamakaji, newly promoted to Commodore, had stopped a few times. He wasn't sure if it was because the man wanted to see his pain for himself or if he just hoped to catch a glimpse of Garp or Sengoku.

His hero worship was still strong even 20 years in the future.

Anyway, he had more people being friendly and willing to talk to him than he would have thought. Or at least people weren’t openly afraid or disgusted by him. It seemed that his actions during Ohara the last time had really ostracized him from part of the force. His single minded focus on rising through the ranks and upholding justice probably hadn't helped.

But now, nobody hated him for Ohara. Kuzan was still talking to him, and not in the polite but glacial way they had become accustomed to. He was more focused on getting close to the people he knew would become useful or who would join his way of seeing justice. A surprisingly high number of people had stayed in the same rank or barely moved up in 20 years.

Those weren't worth getting interested in.

Having Kuzan friendship thought… It would make everything easier. Even if he prevented the disaster that had been -would be- the Battle of Marineford, Sengoku would still one day retire, and either he or Kuzan would step up as Fleet Admiral.

They wouldn't have to fight for the role. He still wanted it, of course, but not being the Fleet Admiral would give him more freedom to act, even going against order- his Admirals had no problem doing it blatantly when he had the post.

The Marines would get more united than ever, and the day they would need to turn against the World Government, they would do it.

The vision of the future was nice, but going to sleep after spending hours locked in Borsalino’s office would be even better. The man had avoided him all day, hoping not to suffer his wrath. Too bad he was ready to wait for him to drop his guard before striking.

He pressed the palm of his hands against his eyes, his body not yet used to going with too little sleep. He wanted to finish this today, not willing to spend more than a day doing Borsalino’s work for him, but it was late, and he hadn’t slept much the night before.

His eyes closed just for a second, barely more than a blink-

~~One Piece~~

Borsalino tip-toed to his office. He hadn’t thought that Sakazuki would spend the whole day in here, thinking that he would get too angry and hunt him down after a few hours. But here he was, way past midnight, going to check if the man was still in his office like Kuzan had warned him he would be.

He slowly opened the door… And he indeed was here, his arms holding his head up, asleep at his desk.

If he had been a better man, he would have felt guilty for this. He only felt vaguely afraid of Sakazuki’s revenge, because there was no doubt the man would get him back for that.

He laid his hand on his shoulder, ready to wake him up and try to diminish the rage his fellow Vice Admiral was sure to feel, and found himself violently thrown into a wall, a magma covered hand grabbing his collarbone and keeping him pinned.

He couldn’t react, stunned by the violence and the emotions he could see twirling in Sakazuki’s usually inexpressive eyes.

It took a second for Sakazuki’s expression to clear, and he immediately let him go, staggering back a few steps, his eyes fixed on the blistering skin on Borsalino’s neck.

“Fuck.” Sakazuki breathed out, what he had done suddenly hitting him. “I’m sorry. I had-” He stopped himself. He hadn’t felt the need to explain himself for a long time, but then again he had never attacked Borsalino like that.

“Are you okay ?” Asked Borsalino, ignoring the pain for now, even if it _really_ hurt.

And now he needed to explain himself, because you didn’t attack someone when you woke up if you really were fine, and Borsalino deserved at least not to get lied to his face after putting up with him for all those years.

“I thought I was somewhere else.” _In a cell in Impel Down. With you chained next to me._ “Someone getting close enough to wake me up by touching me would have been a bad thing. I shouldn’t have lost control like that.”

“You should train with Kuzan more. At least until you’re back in control.”

Sure, fighting Kuzan, as if it wouldn’t remind him of their duel on Punk Hazard and put him even more on edge. Still, he needed to control his Devil Fruit before anything like that happened to someone not as understandable and durable as Borsalino, and fighting the only man that could counter his powers easily was the best way to do it.

“Let me find you a doctor. I’m not letting Kuzan see you missing half the skin of your neck. He would think I attacked you for forcing me to do your paperwork.”

“Hmm~. He does have the tendency to think the worst of you.”

Sakazuki only glanced at the burn, not deigning to answer to that. Kuzan was well aware of his nature, and while he wouldn’t attack a fellow marine over something trivial like what Borsalino did, he had no problem before killing them for disregarding his orders. He no longer did it, since some people frowned at that and it would slow down his goal of uniting the Marines, Kuzan hadn’t forgotten that he had done it before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onigumo and Yamakaji are both Vice Admirals involved in the Buster Call of Enies Lobby. Onigumo is the one with the Devil Fruit giving him extra arms that put the Seastone cuffs on Marco, and Yamakaji… Well he smokes a cigar and fights with a sword. He was near Tsuru at the start of the Marineford.


	4. The Clumsy Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakazuki remembers that he can help people even if he doesn’t consider them important.

The ceremony to promote him to Admiral was just as boring as it had been the first time. Borsalino, who had been standing behind him the whole time because he had been promoted a couple of months before, had managed to look even more bored than usual.

At least, when Kuzan came to congratulate him, it hadn’t been the awkward, stilted conversation it had been last time, where they had only been polite to each other because none of them wanted to show dissent in the ranks in front of the Gorosei. Everyone knew that Kuzan would become an Admiral soon after him, and they had wanted to present a united front.

This time, Kuzan had been sincere. Their friendship, while not deep, had managed to survive their conflicts of opinion, and he knew he would be able to trust the other Marine at his back when it would be needed.

A crash interrupted him from his thoughts, and he turned his head to see that a young Marine had fallen and was blinking bewildered from his position on the floor.

His semi-long hair was falling in blond waves around his face, maroon eyes quickly lowering to stare at the ground as his cheeks reddened in shame. Sakazuki tried to remember where he had seen him before, when Sengoku reached his hand to help him get off the floor, and suddenly he understood.

Donquixote Rosinante. Doflamingo’s brother, and Sengoku’s adoptive son. Killed by his own brother for reasons unknown while undercover, even though the apparition of Trafalgar Law years later with the Ope Ope No Mi and his fight against Doflamingo had given him a good idea of what really had happened.

Seeing him so young here, as he couldn’t be older than twenty, and sheepishly thanking Sengoku for his help while rubbing the back of his head, he couldn’t see any similarity with Doflamingo. The former -future- Warlord already had his own bounty, and was seen gleefully laughing in it, his arms spreading a familiar pink feathered coat as a town could be seen burning in the background.

The fact that he could save Rosinante hit him suddenly.

He hadn’t cared about the man before. His connection to a pirate had been enough to immediately dismiss him as unimportant, but from what he could remember he had been dutifully informing Tsuru of every move Doflamingo was going, and had helped stall the man’s plan to take over Dressrosa by a few years, Doflamingo having only left the North Blue after his death.

However, the few things he could remember weren’t enough to form a real plan to prevent his death. He knew that there had been a deal for the Ope Ope no Mi, he wouldn’t forget about a fruit this powerful, but he couldn’t remember who had it and when it had happened, just that Rosinante body had been found there with enough evidence to indicate that Doflamingo had been the killer.

He would need to wait until the date of the deal got nearer to start to plan. He could make sure that he had direct backup. Tsuru having been the one to chase Doflamingo and the closest to where the deal had happened, he could order her to make sure Rosinante wasn’t hurt too badly, but even if she waited near the island where the exchange had taken place with a doctor ready, it wouldn’t be enough. It would still be minutes between Rosinante being shot and the doctor finding him, which wouldn’t ensure his survival.

Seeing Sengoku sharply move to grab the back of Rosinante’s uniform before he managed to stumble over a member of the Gorosei made him remember that the man was really accident prone. Maybe a way to protect himself from the bullets would be a better idea.

~~One Piece~~

With this plan in place, it didn’t take him long to find Rosinante’s birth date -July 15th- and to corner him when he got out of his adoptive father’s office.

“Did you need something, Sir ?” Rosinante asked wearily, his eyes constantly switching to the floor to make sure that he didn’t make a fool of himself in front of the new admiral by falling while being immobile.

“I’ve seen you a few times around Marineford.” Said Sakazuki as he leant casually against his desk. “You always managed to either set yourself on fire or to stumble on air.” He ignored the way Rosinante’s jaw tightened at what he considered the start of a taunt. “I couldn’t very well let Sengoku’s son kill himself while I’m around, so here- take this.”

He held out a neatly packaged box in his hand, and waited for Rosinante to slowly take it.

“What is it, Sir ?”

“Something to protect yourself with. Come on, open it.”

Rosinante carefully balanced the box on one hand, the other tearing out the wrapping and opening the box. He blinked in surprise at the pair of gloves and the strange shirt under it.

“The gloves are fireproof. Keeping your bandaged hands near your cigarettes only seems to make you catch fire more often.” He explained, with a tilt of his head to indicate the bandages around his left hand and the burn peeking from under them.

“A mix of steel and carbon has been sewn into the undershirt. It is cut in a way that makes it invisible under your uniform, and the material should be solid enough to protect you from most impact and prevent you from breaking your ribs by falling in the mess hall again. It’s supposed to help against bullets too, but try not to test that.” He added the last part as if it was just an afterthought and not the main point of the gift. No need to make Rosinante question him, and he hoped that this way, the man would think to use it when he went undercover.

“I- thank you, Sir. I don’t know what to say.”

“I can see that each time you’re setting yourself on fire, Sengoku is one step closer to ordering me to become your private lighter. It’s a self-serving gift, really.” He answered casually.

A smile lit up Rosinante’s face, and it comforted him in his idea that he really wasn’t anything like his brother. There was always a manic edge to Doflamingo’s smiles, no matter how much the man seemed to have fun. “I’ll try to dissuade him from the idea, Sir.”

“Come on, I got other things to do. I know that the gloves will interfere with your job,” he had been surprised to learn that Rosinante had been a sniper in the Marines, and better than average, “but think about wearing them when you want a smoke. At least when your father can see you.”

~~One Piece~~

Rosinante put down the spyglass he had been using to look for hidden Marine ships around Minion Island. He glanced at Law who seemed to barely hang onto consciousness and was breathing heavily, his small body hidden in the blanket protecting him from the cold. His cheeks were flushed, the redness visible despite the white spots covering more than half his face.

He couldn’t risk going somewhere else given the positions of the Marines ships and where Doflamingo was most likely to arrive. He looked up at the cliff he had attached their boat to, and decided that the best way to get into the island was to climb it. Not the best idea he had, especially given that he needed to take Law with him to give him the Ope Ope no Mi as soon as possible. Still, he could be extra careful and make sure Law didn’t fall. Make sure that _he_ didn’t fall, since the impact wouldn’t be good for Law even if he cushioned the fall.

He grabbed a few ropes, seeing that the best way to climb undisturbed would be to strap down Law to his back, and suddenly froze when he had an idea.

He was trying to deceive the Donquixote’s Pirates, the Barrels’ Pirates and the Marines, all the while protecting Law. He needed every help he could find.

He dropped the ropes and started to frantically search through the few bags they had on the ship, sure that he wouldn’t have left Akainu’s gift behind to be found by Doflamingo.

“Cora-san ?” Called Law weakly as he cracked an eye open to look at what he was doing. “ ‘vrything alright ?”

“Don’t worry about it.” He answered with a forced smile. “Just making sure I won’t get hurt stealing the Ope Ope no Mi.” He removed his feather cloak and the shirt under it, ignoring Law’s weak protest that it was too cold to disrobe himself, and put the undershirt on. It was a little too tight as he had grown in all his years with Doflamingo, but it still fit.

“Come on Law, in a few hours you’ll be cured.” He reassured him.

~~One Piece~~

It seemed that no matter how much people tried to prevent him from hurting himself, he always found a way. He had stumbled just at the wrong moment, falling right into a bunch of Barrel’s Pirates. He had managed to escape, but not before being shot a few times. The undershirt seemed to have been effective, as most of the bullet hitting his chest had been stopped by it. One of the men had been especially close when he had fired and the shot had managed to get past the protection. Still, it kept pressure on his injuries and prevented him from bleeding out.

It didn’t do anything to the gunshot wounds in his legs and arms though.

Law had been so horrified about his state, but they didn’t have the time to care about how hurt he was, not if he wanted to give the Marines the proof he had of Doflamingo’s plan for taking over Dressrosa _before_ the Marines understood that he had betrayed them, and then escape from both them and Doflamingo. However, the wounds in his legs would give him too much trouble if left untreated, and he had decided to send Law to deliver the results of four years of work to the Marines while he removed the bullets from his body.

Bad luck seemed to have stricken him again, because Law came back with Vergo of all people, which resulted in the situation he was in now, facing Doflamingo with a gun that they both knew he wouldn’t fire, Law’s hiding in a chest behind him and only safe for as long as he was still alive for his Devil Fruit’s powers to work.

“Let Law go Doffy.” He begged, hoping to stall him long enough for the Marine ship, the one that Doflamingo was going after for thinking it held Law, escape. “He won’t become like you. He’s free !”

A vein appeared on his brother's face, and the next thing he knew was the pain of being shot.

Once. Twice. He stopped counting as his brother kept shooting him, and fell back against the chest hiding Law, feeling him struggle inside. Most of the bullets hit his chest and were stopped, but one went particularly low, passing under the undershirt and piercing his skin, before hitting his hip from the inside. It deflected the bullet and instead of piercing his hip and leaving his body, it lodged itself in his spine.

His vision went dark for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, the chests and Doflamingo were gone.

He carefully took a breath. The pain coming from his back and his earlier injuries was almost unbearable, but he was used to being hurt, didn’t think he could ever feel a pain stronger than on the day he had been tortured and had seen his father being shot in front of his eyes. His ribs were definitely broken by the repetitives impacts, but he couldn’t hear the wet sound that indicated the broken parts had pierced his lungs. He tried to shift a little, to see if he was able to move- and felt the bullet stuck in his back move and hit a nerve.

A low whine escaped him before he could restrain himself. It took him a few seconds before he could control it, and he gritted his teeth not to make a sound again. He didn’t want to risk using his powers on himself, not when he was on the verge of unconsciousness and Law’s survival depended on him staying awake for as long as possible.

He tried to count the seconds, wanting to have at least an idea of how long he was holding out, but he soon became aware that was losing his stream of consciousness for brief periods of time. Keeping track of which number he was on definitely wasn’t his brain priority.

“Captain Tsuru ! There’s someone here.”

“Rosinante !” Called a voice he knew. “Rosinante, stay with me. Go find a doctor !” Shouted the woman, fingers pressing against his neck to find his pulse.

He struggled to open his eyes, and had to blink a few times for his vision to clear enough to recognize Tsuru’s worried face leaning over him.

“Tsuru.” He said weakly.

“Don’t talk.” She ordered. “What happened to you, you stupid boy ?” He wanted to smile at the worry he could hear in her voice, but he wasn’t sure he had the strength to do that.

“Don’t fall asleep on me.” She ordered when his eyes closed back.

“We’ll need to move him to a stretcher.” Said a new voice, and when had a doctor arrived here ? “Given the number of bullet holes, it’ll be very painful to move him even that little. It’s better if he loses consciousness now because he is tired than because of the pain of moving.”

“Do fall asleep then, Rosinante.” Tsuru’s hand passed through his hair, and it was _nice_. “I’ll keep you safe.”

He fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first real time skip of this story. Since most of the events we know about happen around the same time, we're quickly going to rejoin canon (pre timeskip), but there is at least one other event Sakazuki will change before we reach the present.


	5. The One With The Ope Ope no Mi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakazuki gets a reward, Sengoku becomes a grandfather without being aware.

Coming back to Marineford after a few weeks battling Big Mom’s forces and preventing her from invading an allied country, Sakazuki would have loved to go to his bed and sleep for a day. Seeing Sengoku standing just outside the ship made him reconsider his plans.

He joined the Fleet Admiral and they started to walk together in silence, both knowing better than to talk where everyone could hear them. He couldn’t remember anything like that happening the last time, and nothing had gone wrong in his mission. Making sure as many civilians as possible survived was more work than he had expected, but it kept going to roughly the same mission as in his last life challenging.

They entered Sengoku’s office, and his gaze zeroed on the man sitting next to the desk.

“Commander Rosinante.” He acknowledged reflexively, before what he said caught up with him. “Your mission is over, then.” He continued smoothly. And he had survived. Good.

“It seems I have to thank you for being alive. I was shot a few times,” Rosinante said with a move of his hand toward his heavily bandaged torso, “but most of the bullets didn’t make it past the protecting undershirt protection you offered me. Without it they would have pierced my lungs and I would have died in minutes. So thank you.”

“I’m glad you survived.” Answered Sakazuki truthfully. “And the wheelchair ?” He asked. He could see that the man had bandages under his jeans too, and nobody in his right mind would have offered him crutches if he had difficulties walking, but he would have thought that Sengoku would have offered him a chair more comfortable.

“One bullet hit my hips, which changed its path enough that it lodged in my spine. The nerves ending froze because of the cold, there wasn’t anything the doctors could do.” The tone with which he had said the last sentence was familiar, it was the same tone that every doctor who had talked about Kuzan’s lost leg had used when he questioned them. Rosinante certainly wasn’t as fine with losing the use of his legs than he portrayed to the world.

He could feel a tiny smudge of sympathy rise in him, enough not to offer meaningless platitudes.

“I’m sure that you could still be one of our best snipers, if you still want to be a Marine.”

Rosinante jerked in shock at that, and he could feel Sengoku’s gaze, the man having been silent the whole time, resting heavily on him. He was an Admiral, he knew how to motivate his troops. There was no need to be this surprised, really.

“I’ll think about it. Thank you Admiral.”

“I’ll follow you to your office.” Said Sengoku, opening the door and effectively ending the conversation.

“Take care of yourself, Commander.” Said Sakazuki as he left. Given the shocked face of the Captain who was walking in the corridor and had heard him, he needed to remember not to be too nice in front of people who weren’t his fellow Admirals, or some of the Vice Admirals.

“Everything went fine on your mission ?” Asked Sengoku idly as they closed the door to Akainu’s office behind them, it being only a few dozen meters away from Sengoku’s one.

“Yes it did.”

“Listen.” Sighed Sengoku, as usual not one to beat around the bush when talking to the Admirals, or to Garp. “You saved my son’s life. I won’t forget that.”

It hadn’t been the plan, not really, but it was still nice to know that Sengoku was in his debt. He respected the man too much to act like he wouldn’t take advantage of this.

“Thank you, Fleet Admiral.” He answered, the reminder of Sengoku’s position enough for them both to understand that one day, he would ask something that only Sengoku could offer.

~~One Piece~~

It had taken months before Sengoku had allowed Rosinante out of the island near Marineford where he had been hiding in convalescence. He might have lost all the proof of Doflamingo’s plan, but he could still indicate the presence of a traitor at Marineford. Sengoku had vowed that he would keep an eye on Vergo, but he couldn’t do anything without proof and without warning Doflamingo of his brother's survival.

So it had been a long few months, where he recovered from his injury and got used to the wheelchair, and he hadn’t left the island except for the one time to see Akainu.

But now he was in the familiar waters of the North Blue. One of Tsuru’s marines was pushing his wheelchair, helping him maneuver in the street of Notice, the island Law was currently hiding on. Tsuru had willingly turned a blind eye to the fact that he was trying to meet with the owner of the Ope Ope no Mi, just like Sengoku had done when he claimed that because of his near death he didn’t remember a lot of things that had happened on Minion Island, and certainly not the reason he was there or how the Devil Fruit had disappeared.

“I think I see him.” Said the Lieutenant pushing him. Rosinante’s head snapped in the direction she was looking at, but he couldn’t see anything because of the stalls in front of them. His new height was one of the things he had trouble adjusting to, he had been proud of almost reaching three meters, even if his sudden growth spurts hadn’t helped with his balance.

They advanced a little more, and here he was.

“That’s him.” He confirmed, his voice tight.

Law was sitting on a barrel, his hand on a sword taller than him resting next to him. Two adolescents who seemed to be around his age were talking animatedly in front of him, and he was listening to them with the ghost of a smile on his face. A -was that a polar bear ?- was also listening, and even interrupted them to add something.

Okay, he had seen weirder.

Law’s head rose slightly as his eyes scanned the crowd in a practiced move. They went past him before stopping on the Lieutenant behind him. Something must have warned him that she was a Marine as his posture immediately changed, his hand tightening on the nodachi at his side. His eyes lowered from where he was looking at the Lieutenant and slowly reached his.

If anything, he tensed even more. The polar bear seemed to sense that something was wrong, as he turned to ask him something. Law’s eyes never left him as he answered, Rosinante too far away to read anything more than the word “dead” on his lips.

His hands went to grab the wheels of his chair, and he started to roll forward, the Marine at his back not following. The two young men at Law side turned toward him, before confirming something to Law.

Law jumped down from his position, the sword coming to rest on his shoulder and almost toppling over. He started to slowly walk toward him, a blank expression on his face. It was only due to the months they had spent together that Rosinante could see the turmoil there.

“Law.” He called out as soon as Law was in earshot.

“Cora-san.” He answered hesitantly.

Rosinante's eyes roamed over his body, seeing the lack of white patches as well as the height and weight he had gained in a few months.

“You seem healthy.” He finally said lamely after the silence stretched awkwardly between them, a smile stretching his face.

“Cora-san.” Choked out Law as he ran the few meters between them to throw himself at him, Rosinante barely managing to lock the wheels before Law collided with the chair, his arms finding their place behind Rosinante’s neck and his nodachi falling on the floor at their side.

“I thought- I thought you were dead, I heard you get shot.” He sobbed out and fuck, he didn’t know what to do with himself, he had made Law cry. “You said Doflamingo wouldn’t hurt you.” He said, his head coming up from where he was crying in his shoulder to stare at him accusedly.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Law, I never wanted to leave you.” He couldn't address the fact that he had promised him Doffy wouldn’t hurt him, since he knew perfectly well that his brother was more than capable of killing his family. “I was really hurt, and it took me that long to heal, but as soon as I could I wanted to let you know that I was still alive.”

Law disentangled himself from around him and took a step back, as if noticing the wheelchair for the first time.

“What happened ?”

“One of the bullets broke my spine.” Answered Rosinante.

“I can heal you.” Offered Law immediately, like he didn’t even need to think about it.

“No.” Said forcefully Rosinante.

Law recoiled in surprise at his answer.

“I won’t ask you to do this. I didn’t help you, or give you the Ope Ope no Mi, because I wanted something from you afterwards. You’ll never again have to do something you don’t want to, do you understand ?”

“Yeah.” Said Law after he swallowed heavily to prevent his tears from spilling again. “I know. You’ve saved my life, Cora-san. You- you are…” _You are the closest thing I have of a father._ “I want to heal you.”

“I stayed a few hours in the snow before a doctor found me. They said that I’m missing the last five centimeters of nerves at the bottom of my spine, because the bullet hit them at an angle and each time I moved it moved too.” From Law’s face, it was as bad as it sounded. He hadn’t expected to ever walk again though, and would find a way to make himself useful while staying out of Doflamingo’s reach even while chair bound.

Law looked around for a few seconds to avoid his eyes, before he saw the Marine standing a few meters away, not looking at them. 

“You told me you were a marine.” He continued quickly before Rosinante could think of an answer to that. “I’ve known since your first call, on the Den Den Mushi. It was to Sengoku’s right ? The Fleet Admiral. We watched a recording of his speech when he became Fleet Admiral once in school, I recognized the voice.”

“Yes, it was him. I know you hate the World Government, and I didn’t want you to-”

“I don’t hate you.” Cut him off Law. “But what does that mean for you ? You… They wanted the Ope Ope no Mi, and you gave it to me.” He whispered.

“The trauma from being shot made me lose a lot of memories of that day.” Answered Rosinante straight faced. “I have no idea of what happened to the Ope Ope no Mi. But Doflamingo believes that I’m dead, and I can’t risk coming back to the North Blue.”

“Vergo-” Started to protest Law.

“Will be under surveillance, and I’ll be kept away as far as possible. Which means one of the other Blues.”

“So I won’t see you again.” Said Law.

“I’ll give you my private Den Den Mushi number as soon as I have a new one. I won’t be able to come here, but I hope we’ll still stay in touch.” He said hopefully. “If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll come to your help, safety be damned. But I know I can’t take you with me, and this way I’ll still have enough power as a Marine to come to your aid if you need it.”

“I-” He didn’t know what to say. Cora-san was here, and alive, and risking his life if Doflamingo ever discovered it. He squared his shoulder. He would keep Cora-san safe, and still take down Doflamingo, this time not as revenge but so that one day they could both live normally. “I need to introduce you to my friends, then.” He said, suddenly remembering them. Penguin and Shachi were watching them warily, Bepo twirling his paws anxiously. He told them to come with a tilt of his head, and bent down to lift Kikoku, holding it out for Bepo to carry when the Mink reached them.

“Shachi, Bepo, Penguin, this is Cora-san.” Given their face, they had understood that much, and seemed wary, but happy for him. He had told them that Cora-san had died, that it was the whole reason he had become his own captain and planned to stop Doflamingo. “Cora-san, they are Shachi, Bepo and Penguin. They’re my friends… My crew.” He added after an hesitation.

“Nice to meet you. I hope you’ll take care of Law for me.” He said with a smile, not surprised in the slightest that Law had become a pirate. He certainly wouldn’t have become a Marine.

“Of course we will !” Exclaimed Bepo, before ducking his head. “Sorry.” He whispered.

“He’s in good hands with us.” Reassured Penguin, earning a dubious stare from Law and Shachi -the traitor.

“Can you stay a few more hours ?” Law asked hopefully. “I’d like to tell you what happened these last few months.”

“Sure. I will have to leave today though, my boat’s leaving in the late afternoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Law still has some limitation on his Devil Fruit, especially if he doesn't want to give up his life. He can heal up a lot of things, but regrowing nerves ? I don't think so. I don't know anyting about healing anyway.


	6. Kaido Will Not Understand What’s Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Marines have the idea of destroying a Yonko’s crew from the inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn’t anyone find it strange that Drake was in contact with Coby and not an Admiral/ a Vice at least while he was on a really important mission for the Marines ? Especially given that Rosinante was reporting to Tsuru & Sengoku, and that Coby hadn’t even joined the marines when Drake officially betrayed them. Dino-boy deserves to have a powerful backup for when he deals with Kaido.

"... this is why we must send someone to infiltrate Kaido's crew." Concluded Brannew. He had been going on and on for what felt like hours, his speech accompanied by a visual presentation to show them that yes, Yonkos are dangerous, and they should have a plan in place to destroy them if needed.

The other marines in the room were all just as bored as Sakazuki, but the meeting was more to remind the World Government's representatives of _why_ they should approve funding for a mission that could very well last a few years and end in the death of their agent before they could send any important intel.

“And who would be chosen for this mission ?” Asked the director of one of the Cipher Pol units, number 5 if he remembered correctly.

“We have a few officers that could do this, but the one we think has the better chance of success is Rear Admiral Diez Drake.”

“Diez Drake… Isn't he related to Diez Barrels ? Should we really send the son of a _pirate_ into a situation this sensitive ? He would jump at the opportunity to betray the Marines.” Continued the man.

Last time, Sakazuki had shared the same concern. He had kept quiet out of a sense of duty to a fellow Marine, but hadn't wanted anything to do with Drake. Which has resulted in a Vice Admiral being assigned with helping him on his mission, and Drake hadn't been a pirate for more than a week before his handler delegated to his subordinates. It had turned out fine in the end, with Vice Admiral -no, he was still a Read Admiral at the time- Coby getting his hand on the case, but Drake had had to spend years as a pirate, a rookie before rising to a Supernova, as well as months alone with the Beast Pirates before he had finally found someone willing to help him.

And he didn't deserve that. He had been loyal to the Marines above all, willing to do everything to succeed in his mission. His friendship with Trafalgar Law and Basil Hawkins might have become a problem in the future, his future, but he couldn't know that. Drake had given everything he had, his hard earned reputation, his work, his friends, to be branded as a traitor and sent to one of the most dangerous places in the world.

This time, he wouldn't have to do it alone.

“You should have looked at his file, before dismissing his worth like that.” He stated mildly. Everyone's attention suddenly sharpened on him, and he could feel Kuzan idle curiosity. Borsalino wasn't at this meeting, but it was rare for the three admirals to be at Marineford at the same time. “He wouldn't have become a Rear Admiral despite the sins of his father if we had even an inkling that he would one day turn traitor.”

“The marines have in the past promoted-”

“You should be careful in whose presence you're being.” Interrupted Kuzan. “Everyone here has clearance to know about Cipher Pol's own screw ups.” And more than half of them here were Marine Officers, who wouldn’t take it well if someone from Cipher Pol of all places started to criticize them.

“Diez Barrel was a lousy marine who barely reached the rank of Captain by the time he was forty. He was a drunk that never ventured outside of the North Blue and he abandoned the Marines as soon as he had the opportunity to make money as a pirate. Diez Drake is known as hard working, and had faced hardship while rising through the rank in the same place his father had worked. He had everything pushing him to become a pirate at a young age, and he still went and became a good Marine as far as his superiors can tell.” Said Sakazuki.

“You would take responsibility for this operation then ?” Taunted the Cipher Pol agent.

“It seems telling to me that you would think I can decide _alone_ who goes undercover for an operation of this magnitude. Cipher Pol has to learn about how the chain of command actually works. But to answer your question, yes, if asked, I would make sure that anyone we send to _infiltrate a Yonko’s crew_ is the best we can find, I would ensure their safety as best as I could, and I would take responsibility for anything that happens to any Marine under my command. That’s what being an officer means.”

“Unless one of your agents is willing to offer themselves to go undercover, I think we can agree that Diez Drake is our best option.” Said Sengoku, interrupting smoothly the agent that was getting worked up before he could insult Akainu and die suspiciously in an alley of Marineford, covered in magma with dozens of witnesses confirming the Admiral had been nowhere near him. “We will have to make sure that he understands and agrees to this operation, and we’ll put him under your command, Admiral Akainu.”

~~One Piece~~

“Rear Admiral Drake !” Boomed Sakazuki as he slammed the door of a meeting room open. Almost everyone in the room jumped in fright. A few officers, ranking from Captain to Vice Admiral, had been meeting to talk about affectation of the officers ranked lower than Commander to their unit, and how their Devil Fruit should influence their decision. They certainly weren’t planning for an Admiral to come here.

“Admiral ?” Asked warily Drake.

“A word.” Said Sakazuki as he inclined his head sharply to the side, a sneer never leaving his face. Drake stood up and followed him out without a word. As soon as the door closed behind them, they could hear the whisper that had erupted in the room.

As if a door would prevent them from hearing. Officers should really have more awareness than that.

“What is it, Sir ?” Asked Drake as the reinforced door of Sakazuki’s office closed behind him. He knew the Admiral's reputation, of course, knew of his stance on pirates, former pirates, and everyone that was in any way, shape or form associated with piracy. His father's sins had always been thrown in his face in the North Blue, but this had greatly diminished once he got assigned to Marineford. He hoped the bastard that had been half-responsible for his birth wouldn’t fuck up his future just as he had fucked up his childhood.

“What I’m going to tell you isn’t leaving this room.” Warned Sakazuki, his attitude immediately losing its anger now that they were alone. “You are being given the opportunity to participate in a mission that could either end with you being lauded as a hero to the Marines or with your death, labeled as a traitor.” He said bluntly. “You won’t be judged if you refuse to do it, either before or after I give more information on what exactly will be asked of you.” He wasn’t sure whether Drake had had a choice last time, but he hoped the man would still be willing to do this.

Drake frowned at him. He hadn't been expecting to be offered any kind of opportunity.

“Can I ask why I have been chosen first, Sir ?”

“The most important thing is your Devil Fruit. Nobody else in the marines has an Ancient Zoan, and it’s probably the most attractive thing in your résumé for this. Your father's actions will only help, but even if he had stayed as a Marine, you would still have been chosen on your Devil Fruit and your abilities alone.” He reassured him, aware that Drake would immediately jump to the idea that his father had something to do with it. It was what he wanted every Marine that had been in the meeting room with the Read Admiral to think, that he had been this angry while demanding to talk to Drake because of his family reputation. It would make Drake’s betrayal of the Marines much more believable if people thought an Admiral had forced him away.

“What would this mission consist in, Sir ?”

Good. He was at least willing to hear him.

“You would be sent undercover as a pirate, in the ultimate goal to infiltrate a pirate crew to give us the means to destroy it from the inside.”

Drake stayed silent for a few seconds, Sakazuki letting him think this through. He knew the man’s mind was sharp.

“Would this crew be a New World crew ?”

“Yes it is.” He could feel a smirk want to appear at the corner of his mouth.

“With a reputation from being composed mostly of Zoan ?”

“This might be why you have been chosen, yes.”

“And you have chosen me to infiltrate the Beast Pirates.” Said Drake, dumbfounded by the idea.

“ _I_ haven’t chosen you. Sengoku is the one who ultimately made this choice. But I supported you against some of your detractors who were afraid of where your loyalties truly lie.”

Drake decided to ignore for now the idea that the Fleet Admiral himself had been aware of his existence, to concentrate on the most pressing issue.

“Why would you back me up, Sir ? I’m aware of your stance on traitors.”

“Your record speaks for itself. You’re as far removed from your father as you can be, and had to work twice as hard to prove your loyalty than others. And you still did the work, became a hard worker with a set of morals that I can respect. I won’t let some Cipher Pol agent dismiss a good Marine when he has proven himself. ”

Drake blinked in surprise at the endorsement. “Thank you for your confidence, sir.”

“Would you be willing to hear more about it then ? You can still decide to refuse at any time.”

“Yes Sir.”

Sakazuki then detailed how exactly Drake would come to the attention of Kaido, by being the Rookie with the higher bounty of his year -or at least he would try to. Getting outmatched by Straw Hat he could understand, but someone like Eustass Kid having the worst bounty of his generation when they reached Sabaody ? He couldn’t accept that.

A few hours later, Drake was surprisingly on board with the idea. He expected to have to work a little more to convince him.

“Nobody else is sure to get Kaido’s attention like I do, Sir.” He explained when Sakazuki asked him about it. “I know my chances of success are low, and a lot can go wrong no matter how much we plan, but they are still higher than they would be for anyone else.”

“No need to call me Sir in private, we’re going to work together to make sure you succeed, or at least that you don’t die.”

“How are we going to make sure my betrayal is believable ? I know a lot of people won’t look past my family, but I still have friends that won’t accept it without looking for me to try and understand what happened.”

“Are any of them in a position where their protest might attract unwanted attention ?” He knew they weren’t, most people at Marineford had either believed that he had really betrayed the Marines, or had a feeling that something more was at play and had known better than to ask questions.

“Not really, no.” Smoker would hate him for that, but nobody would listen to him as the man had a reputation even worse than his, through no fault but his own. He had the ability to piss off everyone powerful he encountered.

“Then we’ll either ignore them or tell them to shut up, just as we would do if you really were a traitor. The way I took you out of the meeting for you to disappear for hours already lay out the footwork. If you reappear tomorrow, tell everyone that I’ve chosen to affect you indefinitely to an office in Marineford with no chance of going back into the field unless I say so, that you hoped an Admiral would know better than to judge you for things like your family…”

“I would chafe under the restriction…” Mused Drake. “There would need to be something that would push me over the edge though. Maybe another Marine attacking me, and you taking their side in the conflict.”

“That would work. We’ll need to find a way to meet before your betrayal, so I can train you as much as possible.”

Drake head’s jerked up at that. “You- you have never taken a protégé before, but you would be willing to privately train me ?” _Why ?_ was unasked but clearly heard.

“Most of the people I would be willing to train are the one that rose through the ranks around the same time as I did.” Explained Sakazuki. “We all learned from Zephyr. I just trained harder, was stronger, and got a Devil Fruit that allowed me to rise to Admiral. Those who trained under Zephyr would learn as much training with me as they would training with themselves and using what they learned when we were younger. But Zephyr is barely teaching now, and you younger generations never had the chance to really learn under him.”

And it was a chance indeed. No matter how the man had turned in the end, he could still admit that he wouldn’t be there without him. The man had shaped his generation, and if he was the one to become Fleet Admiral again, he wouldn’t make the mistake of disregarding his feeling like he had done the last time, by offering the Shichibukai’s position to his crew’s killer.

“I wouldn’t have learned under him anyway, it took me years to leave the North Blue.” Said Drake.

“And I’m going to remedy to any weakness you have that has been caused by subpar training. Natural fighting skill and a powerful Devil Fruit won’t help you when you’ll face some of the strongest pirates in the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan (from G8) is supposed to be Akainu’s protege but their personality doesn’t match, so I’m just going to ignore that.


	7. Water Seven, or How One Encounter Changed Robin’s Faith In Her Crew Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CP9 still wants to get a hold on Pluton and goes undercover in Water Seven. However, this time Robin knows that she isn’t facing this threat alone.

Meeting Rob Lucci in Water Seven wasn’t something Robin had expected. But now that she was thinking about it, Aokiji’s presence in Long Ring Long Land should have warned her that the World Government was closing in on her.

She almost accepted to follow him without fighting, his threat to her crew, to the civilians living on this island, frightening her more than she would have thought. She knew however what he was capable of, and he never made empty threats. He might not want to harm her too much, since the World Government wanted her in one piece so they could torture everything she knew about the Poneglyphs out of her without risking her death, but he certainly didn’t care about the people living here.

However, she knew someone who might be able to make him back off. She had followed Akainu’s career, and while he was known as ruthless, he had a way of making sure that the civilian casualties were as limited as possible.

Which wasn’t easy to do when a lot of islands ended up entirely destroyed after his fights.

Still, she hoped that he would be willing to protect her, or at least the innocents on Water Seven.

“Robin-chan !” Shouted Sanji as he saw her. She turned her head slightly to look at him through her hair, and made a split-second decision.

“Sanji !” She shouted as she started to run toward him. It was probably the first time she said his name instead of calling him cook-san, and he froze in his tracks. “Sanji, I need help.” She said as soon as she reached him, turning to face toward where she had last seen Lucci. She wasn’t surprised to see that the street was now empty.

“Robin-chan, what’s going on ?” He asked seriously, able to sense her distress enough to be able to ignore the fact that a beautiful woman had almost thrown herself in his arms.

“The World Government- Cipher Pol, they’re after me. They threatened the crew, wanted me to follow them.” She explained. “We’re not safe here, we need to leave this island as soon as possible.”

“Okay, Robin, calm down. We’re going back to Merry, Zoro should still be there, he’ll protect you. I’m going to look for Nami and the others, regroup the whole crew as soon as possible so you can explain exactly what is going on.” He almost put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, but forced himself not to. He didn’t want to get distracted right now.

“Ok. Ok” She repeated. “Thanks, Sanji. Chopper was in the library the last time I saw him.” She almost felt bad for ditching him, but she didn’t want to inflict Lucci on Chopper of all people.

“Good, that’s one less person to look for. We’ll take him to Merry with us, then I’ll just need to find Nami’s group. I won’t let anyone hurt you Robin-chan.” He declared.

~~One Piece~~

“Zoro ! Oi, stupid marimo, wake up !” Shouted Sanji as soon as he could see the Merry. They had been running through Water Seven as quickly as possible, Robin’s hand gripped tightly in Chopper’s fur the whole time.

“What do you want, shitty cook ?” Asked Zoro as he sat up. One look at Robin’s pale face had him immediately on guard. “What happened.” He demanded.

“There are government agents after Robin. I’ll go back to find Nami and the rest. You protect Robin-chan with your life, you understand me !”

Zoro nodded grimly, his hand finding its usual resting place on Wado’s hilt.

“Are you okay ?” He asked Robin, looking for any sign of injury.

“I’m fi- I’m not hurt.” She corrected herself. “I shouldn’t have come back here, I’m only putting you in danger-” She started to say, before getting cut off by Zoro’s.

“Oi. If you’re in danger, you turn toward the crew to protect you. That’s what we’re here for.”

“I won’t let you go.” Said determinedly Chopper. He couldn’t believe that he had separated from Robin for a few minutes and she had been in danger while he was peacefully browsing in a book shop. “And Luffy will never let you leave once Sanji tells him you are in trouble.” He added.

Robin sighed warily, a hand coming to rub between her eyes. She could tell they meant it, and she knew Luffy would do his best to prevent Lucci from hurting her. They had met when he was facing Crocodile for hurting Princess Vivi after all, but even if he wouldn’t rest until he made sure she was safe, he couldn’t win against someone like Rob Lucci.

The few tense minutes of silence that followed were broken by the shouts of Nami, Usopp and Luffy who were running at full speed toward them, briefcases clutched against their chests.

“Robin !” Shouted Luffy as he extended one arm and catapulted himself toward the Merry. “Sanji said you were in trouble ?” He asked.

“Was it Aokiji ?” Asked Nami when she reached them a few seconds later.

“No, not Aokiji. I- I need to tell you something, about my past, about why the government is after me.”

“Let’s get into the kitchen.” Ordered Sanji. “You’ll need comfort food if it’s going to be a difficult conversation.”

They went to sit at the table in the kitchen, Nami resting a hand on her shoulder for a few seconds in support before sitting on her right, Chopper on her left and the others spreading around the table.

“I come from an island called Ohara, in the West Blue.” She started to explain after a few minutes of thinking on how to break the news. “There was the world largest library here, and a small part of the population were archaeologists, people that were interested in history.” She explained for Luffy’s benefit. “There is a part of our century that the World Government doesn't want anyone to know about, called the Void Century. The only remnants of this period are written in another language on stones called poneglyphs.”

“Like the one in Alabasta.” Said Luffy.

“Yes, exactly. Some of these poneglyphs explain what exactly happened during the Void Century, but others… They give the position of very powerful weapons that would be able to destroy the world. That was what Crocodile was looking for in Alabasta.”

She saw Luffy frown slightly, and she knew when his expression went blank that he understood that the poneglyph in Alabasta had been one giving away the emplacement of one of such weapon.

“The government have outlawed the ability to read poneglyphs, but Ohara’s archaeologists didn’t care and learned in secret. When I was eight, the government found out and they decided-” She choked on her saliva, and had to take a break from a story, drink water to sooth her closed throat. 

Saying it calmly, like she wasn’t talking about the death of everyone she had loved… She wasn’t sure where she found the strength to do it. “They send something called a Buster Call. It’s the bombardment by multiple warships of an island in the goal to destroy it. It destroyed entirely Ohara, and the only survivors were on a rescue ship send by the Marines, where they made sure no archeologists were hidden.

“Robin…” Whispered Nami, pain in her voice.

“That’s what they threatened to do to Water Seven if I didn’t go with them.” She explained before anyone could interrupt.

“We’re not letting you go.” Said Luffy calmly.

“We need to leave the island then.” Said Ussop, a quiver in his voice. “Either get to somewhere isolated to fight them, or to lose them on the water.”

Robin couldn’t help but smile incredulously at that. She had thought that once they knew how dangerous her presence was, they would leave her. And here they were, not even thinking about abandoning her, but instead planning on how to survive this together.

“Who is to say they won’t still destroy Water Seven ?” Asked Nami. “The Marines don’t care about the innocent lives that are lost.” She spat out, remembering the Captain that had been paid off by Arlong and had let him reign in terror for years.

“If I told you this… It’s because I know someone in the Marines that told me he would help me if I ever faced a threat like that. But it wouldn’t have been fair to you to involve them without asking you before, because I don’t know if he’ll ask anything in return for stopping the Buster Call.”

“We’re not trading a bad situation for another.” Protested Nami.

“Let’s see what Robin’s contact can do.” Said Zoro. “We don’t have anything to lose. Either he is willing to help, and everyone will be safe, or he isn’t and is trying to blackmail her, and then we’ll go and beat up every marine we can find before they can say the words ‘Buster Call’.”

“You have no idea how much- The Buster Call isn’t something you can fight. It’s powerful enough to destroy entirely this island, until there’s nothing left. You can’t stop something like that.” Said Robin desperately.

“But we can stop the people who are ready to unleash it, Robin-chan.” Countered Sanji. He had lit his cigarette during the discussion as a way to center himself, and took a deep breath. “If it’s something involving multiple warships, then a higher up in the Marines must be the one to give the order.”

“Yes.” Frowned Robin. “I don’t know who exactly has the power to trigger them. At least the Admirals, the Tenryuubito, maybe the directors of some Cipher Pol units, the Government’s espionage agency. But it needs to be someone with a lot of power, since Vice Admirals are in charge of the attack.”

“Then we just have to prevent anyone from being able to ask for a Buster Call.” Said Luffy.

“Unless Aokiji’s already on the Island.” Countered hesitantly Chopper.

“I think we need to learn more about the man Robin mentioned before deciding to attack every Marine we can find.” Said Nami. “Who is it ? You said he would be able to stop the Buster Call ?”

“His name is Sakazuki. Also known as Akainu.” Answered Robin after a second of hesitation.

“Akai- the Admiral ?” Shouted Sanji.

“What ?” Said Ussop.

“How comes you know all those Admirals ?” Asked innocently Luffy.

“Aokiji and Akainu were both Vice Admirals that participated in the Buster Call of Ohara.” She answered. Nami choked on her breath at that.

“What ?” She said faintly.

“Aokiji saw me on the island. He knew I was an archeologist, and that I wouldn’t be able to escape with the rescue ship. He let me escape.” _After killing Saul in front of me._

They could tell that there was more to the story, as this didn’t explain the sheer terror Robin had shown when they met him, but decided not to pry. They could tell the situation was already hard enough on her.

“Akainu… He found me a few days after I escaped. He warned me that the World Government thought that I had survived, and would do anything to make sure that I would get captured. That’s why I had a bounty at such a young age. He is the reason why it took them two years to catch up with me enough to have a picture for the Wanted poster. I would have been caught at the first island I stopped at otherwise. He said that he would be willing to help me if I ever got in trouble not because of something I did, but because of the World Government view on everyone that knows how to read the poneglyphs.”

“So he’s a good guy, right ?” Asked Luffy.

“He has a reputation of being especially harsh against criminals, more than the other Admirals.” Answered Robin. “But he knew that I was destined to become a criminal, and that’s why he offered his help that way. I don’t think he would have helped if I got caught by the Marines in Alabasta, for example.”

The crew stayed silent for a few seconds, looking at each other.

“We don’t have anything to lose, right ?” Said Ussop.

“Let’s call him.” Decided Luffy.

~~One Piece~~

*Puru puru puru puru* … *Puru puru puru puru* … *Gotcha*

“Sakazuki.”

The voice was deep on the other end, and Ussop clenched Nami’s hand as they listened tensely to the Den Den Mushi’s call.

“You told me to call, if I ever needed help.” Said Robin.

“Wait a second, I’m making sure the call is secure... Why are you calling me, Nico Robin ?” Asked Sakazuki.

“Your offer, twenty years ago… Is it still standing ?” She asked.

“It didn’t have a time limit, no. I wouldn’t have bothered to track you down just to extend my offer for a few years.” He answered, and Sanji let out a silent breath in relief.

“I met Rob Lucci today. It seems that CP9 has been looking for me.” Informed Robin.

“Hmm. They shouldn’t be. They have been on an undercover mission for four years, one of utmost importance for the World Government.” Answered Sakazuki.

“They threatened to trigger a Buster Call on Water Seven.” Said Robin tightly.

The silence this time was far longer. _I hadn’t known that._ Thought Sakazuki. _It seems like this situation was more of a clusterfuck than I thought at first. And it seems like the Cipher Pol units are far more ready to trigger a Buster Call than they should. I thought that Enies Lobby had been a desperate attempt to prevent Nico Robin from escaping, but if they are willing to send one just to catch her... I really would like to know what really happened that day._

“I don’t have control over the actions of Cipher Pol.” He finally answered calmly, and Nami started to bite her knuckles to stop herself from shouting in despair. “However, CP 9 works from Enies Lobby, which is a Marine base, and every Marine there is answerable to me. I can’t prevent them from arresting you, since you do have a bounty, but if I decide to do a surprise inspection of Enies Lobby, it would prevent them from making you disappear. You would still receive a trial according to your crimes.” He told her.

“We’re not letting Robin get arrested !” Protested sharply Luffy before anyone could stop him.

Sakazuki chuckled darkly. Oh, how he hated that voice. It seemed that Monkey D. Luffy had always been that headstrong and quick to jump into a fight, which wasn’t surprising, really, since Enies Lobby had happened, but right now he didn’t have the power to back up his attitude, not like toward the end when he was able to defeat Yonkos.

“Calm down, Straw Hat Luffy.” The sharp intakes of breath on the other end told him that various people on the Straw Hat crew understood the significance of an Admiral knowing Luffy’s name and recognizing him by voice alone. “Cipher Pol Nine director, Spandam, shouldn’t be able to trigger a Buster Call. It doesn’t mean he won’t find a way to do it. Cipher Pol don’t play by the Marines rule, they don’t care about the chain of command. I can’t ensure that he will never call a Buster Call on Water Seven. Whatever happens, your best bet is going to Enies Lobby.”

He let them think for a few seconds, before continuing. “If your crew is not willing to let you face justice, Nico Robin, then they might make plans to free you once you’ve reached Enies Lobby. Which would sadly coincide with me ordering every Marine out of Enies Lobby to catch a dangerous criminal.” He hinted not discreetly at all.

“Why would you do that ?” Asked another woman's voice - Cat Burglar Nami, he identified.

“Because there is someone on Banaro I want to catch, I will need backup to make sure that the population will be safe, and Enies Lobby is the closest Marine base.”

“How can we trust you ?” Asked Pirate Hunter Zoro.

“You can’t.” He answered bluntly. “You have no reason to trust a Marine, especially not me. I’m not an Admiral because I’m nice to every pirate I encounter. Should we meet face to face, I’ll arrest you all and ship you to Impel Down. But we’re not meeting, and this isn’t about Robin’s actions as a pirate, but about her ability to read poneglyphs. Cover ups are necessary to make sure that civilians don’t lose faith in the Marines tasked with protecting them, but covering up an entire century isn’t a good thing, and it will explode in the World Government’s face when their actions during that time are discovered.”

Robin frowned slightly at that. This kind of talk, criticizing the World Government, wasn’t something she could reconcile with the reputation Sakazuki had as a Marine. It matched more with the man that had searched for her only to offer his help, and this duality was disturbing. She couldn’t think about it right now, CP 9’s presence a more pressing matter.

“How fast can you empty Enies Lobby ?” She asked.

“I can give the order today. Tomorrow at noon, every Marine will have left Enies Lobby. But don’t mistake this to mean it will be empty. There are still the Cipher Pols agents, including CP 9, and the various forces tasked in protecting Enies Lobby that aren’t part of the Marines. You could very well fail.”

“We’ll take the chance.” Decided Luffy after staring for a few seconds at Robin’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter still is kinda dialogue heavy, which I don’t really like, but since most of it is Robin explaining her past and then their discussion with Sakazuki I don’t think I could spread more the dialogue without it being weird.


	8. Fire, Magma and Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blackbeard might be the biggest threat on Banaro, but Sakazuki can’t really let the opportunity to get rid of someone as troublesome as Gol D. Ace pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Canon typical violence**. I detail more in the end note what that means for this chapter, but Sakazuki will be involved in a fight. You can guess the kind of violence you will see.

“Fire Fist Ace had been seen nearing Banaro Island, which is where the murderer of Whitebeard’s Fourth Commander is rumored to be hiding.” Said Sakazuki as soon as en entered Sengoku’s office. He knew the Fleet Admiral wouldn’t approve of this mission if there was a risk of Garp learning about it, so he had made sure that the man wasn’t anywhere close before coming in.

“Alright.” Said Sengoku, blinking at him in surprise at seeing him barging in.

“That’s our chance to kill a Whitebeard Commander without the Yonko coming after us.” He explained. “Whoever managed to kill a Commander must be powerful. And given that Fire Fist is alone here while Whitebeard is staying in the New World, it means that he decided to chase after the killer without Whitebeard’s permission. We have seen first hand how easy to anger he can be.” Since he had no say in who was chosen as a Shichibukai, he hadn’t been able to prevent Ace from melting one of their warships and sticking it to a Marine base as a refusal when they offered him the position.

“Whitebeard won’t let us kill one of his crew even if he disobeyed his orders.” Countered Sengoku.

“No, but the fact the man managed to murder a Commander and Whitebeard isn’t going after him tells me that the Yonko is wary of him. Which means that if he learns that Fire Fist died by his hands, he won’t expect us to be responsible.”

Sengoku kept silent for a minute, and he could almost see the wheels turning in his head. Sakazuki had always suspected him of knowing Gol D. Ace’s true parentage long before his arrest. Garp was famous at Marineford for bragging about his grandsons to anyone listening, whether they were willing or not, and Sengoku would have known that Ace wasn’t Garp’s by blood. The timing was suspicious, and if he had seen a photo of the boy, he was too smart not to see the connection to Roger.

“If we do this, we’re keeping it quiet. We can't let anyone, even here at Marineford, know what we are doing.”

And here he was, the Fleet Admiral that had no problem ordering Garp to assist to his own grandson's execution. Some might have called the man soft, but Sakazuki wouldn’t make the mistake. Sengoku was a cold hearted strategist at his core, and he might have become disillusioned with the World Government over the years, which Sakazuki couldn’t fault him for, but he still believed in the might of the Marines and the end of the Great Age of Piracy.

Killing Gol D. Ace without risking a war with Whitebeard ? Of course he would be on board.

“The closest base to Banaro is Enies Lobby. If I leave today, take Onigumo and… let’s say, Doberman with me,” _and thus protect them from the fallout of Enies Lobby if a Buster Call is triggered,_ “I can use the Marines there to protect the civilians. If they see the start of the fight between Fire Fist and his opponent, it will give more credibility to the idea that we didn’t kill him than if it was just me saying it.”

“You know you’ll have to stay out of the New World for a few months after that- make that out of the Grand Line.” Said Sengoku, not wanting Marineford to be destroyed if Garp thought that Sakazuki had anything to do with Ace’s death and decided to attack him.

“I’ll make a tour of the bases in the Blues, put the fear of an Admiral in them. But you know I can’t stay out of the Grand Line for that long, there are people that depend on me to keep them safe.” Drake was near the middle of the Grand Line now, and even if nothing should go wrong he couldn’t stay out of reach for too long.

“If Whitebeard learns that you’re responsible, I won’t be able to commit any resources to your protection.” Warned Sengoku. “The Gorosei won’t hesitate to fire you if it means protecting themselves.”

“As long as everyone keeps quiet about this, he’ll have no reason to suspect anything.” Said Sakazuki calmly.

~~One Piece~~

“Fire Fist and the Blackbeard’s pirates have made contact.” Informed him on the Den Den Mushi one of the ensign that was hiding in Banaro. “They’re only talking from now… Blackbeard’s sniper has shot Firefist, who is retaliating. I -fuck !” The sound cut off for a second, before the voice came back.

“Sorry, Sir.” Said the Marine sheepishly. He couldn’t believe he had swore in front of an Admiral like that. “Someone decided to throw a house at Fire Fist, I almost got hit. The fight is really starting now. Blackbeard is- he has a Devil Fruit Sir, I don’t know what kind. He seems to be controlling a sort of black fire, so either a Paramecia or a Logia.”

“Marines, make sure that the civilians are safe.” Sakazuki ordered, his voice carrying easily to the other ships. “We need to prevent Fire Fist Ace and the Blackbeard Pirates from leaving this island unless they’re dead or in cuffs. If you see them leaving, delay them until either me, Vice Admiral Doberman or Vice Admiral Onigumo can come back to fight.”

“Yes, Sir !” Shouted the Marines, all getting ready to take their post, most on a defensive position on the ships that would spread out around Banaro Island, a small part coming to the island to make sure that the civilians had really fled when the Blackbeard Pirates had reached them. They hadn’t seen anyone on the island, but they could still be hiding on it somewhere. Given Akainu’s destructive powers, it was best to make sure no one was too close.

“Ensign, join the ones that are taking the civilians to safety. If you see anything change, warn us.” He ordered on the Den Den, hanging up before the marine could answer.

With a tilt of his head to tell them to follow, he started to use Geppo to reach Banaro, Doberman and Onigumo on his heels.

“Stay out of reach of his powers.” He warned them as soon as he touched the ground near where Ace and Blackbeard were fighting. They could see from there that the entire town around the two fighters had vanished. “For both of them.” He amended. “We have no idea what Blackbeard is able to do, so for now he is the higher threat.”

“ **Liberation !** ”

Blackbeard’s shout resonned through the air around them, before the town suddenly reappeared, its broken debris exploding out of Blackbeard’s body and crashing around him.

“Doberman, you’re with me.” Ordered Sakazuki.

They jumped in the middle of the fight just as Blackbeard used his power to grab onto Ace, Sakazuki’s fist smashing into Blackbeard’s head and sending him flying before he could end his attack.

“That wasn’t haki.” Said Onigumo, staring at Ace who had jumped away from them and was clutching the shoulder Blackbeard had grabbed with a look of shock on his face.

“We need to be careful.” Said Doberman, grabbing his katana at the same time as arms appeared on the back of Onigumo’s body and took hold of the swords hidden beneath his coat.

“Try to directly engage him, I’ll attack from further away until we understand what he is able to do.” Ordered Sakazuki. Doberman was good enough to last a time against Blackbeard, as the man only had his Yami Yami No Mi for now, and only for a few months. He could do more damage from a distance, since Blackbeard's ability to cancel his Devil Fruit would leave him feeling weakened, which wasn’t a problem Doberman had.

“Admiral Akainu !” Spat Blackbeard. “And here I was going to offer you Ace’s head as an offering to get into the Shichibukai.”

“As if the Marines would accept a man who betrayed Whitebeard and killed one of his sons.” Answered Sakazuki.

Blackbeard lost his smug smile as he saw his plans to infiltrate Impel Down destroyed.

“Then I’ll have to kill you all here.” He extended his hands toward them, unleashing his darkness and attracting everyone to him. Doberman swore as he readied his katana to impale Blackbeard as soon as he got close enough, while Ace and Onigumo, who were further away and not as affected by the gravity, used their Devil Fruit and Geppo to stay away.

Sakazuki let his body transform into magma, the earth burning under his feet. Faster than Blackbeard could react, the magma had extended from him, melting everything in its wake until it reached Blackbeard’s feet.

The pirate screamed in pain as he felt his flesh melt under the heat. He stopped his attack to activate his haki in an attempt to protect himself, and Doberman used this moment to attack, his katana swiftly embedding itself in Blackbeard’s shoulder, the man moving at the last second to avoid being decapitated. He retaliated quickly, one hand grabbing Doberman’s katana and the other throwing the Vice Admiral away.

“I’m more resistant than you think.” He panted as the magma disappeared, revealing his feets.

The flesh had been melted to the bone in some places, and only his haki and incredible resistance to pain were stopping him from crashing to the floor. He extracted the katana from his shoulder and threw it toward Doberman, but Onigumo jumped between them and batted the sword away.

“I’m not letting you steal my fight !” Shouted Ace, now free to attack Blackbeard without Onigumo stopping him.

“Stay away.” Said flatly Sakazuki, sending a flying magma fist toward Ace and forcing him back. He grabbed Blackbeard by his uninjured shoulder, and increased the heat in it until it became unbearable. Blackbeard used his haki to try and protect himself, but Sakazuki just used his other hand and punched through his stomach.

With the pain coming from his feet, the burn spreading from his shoulder and the inside of his stomach, Blackbeard lost his focus and with it his control on his haki. He tried to get one last attack, activating his powers and clutching Sakazuki…

A fire spear stabbed in through the heart, and he fell down, finally dead.

Sakazuki turned to face Ace who was staring at the body at his feets. He took a step toward him, and the young man’s gaze snapped up to him. It didn’t take him long to realize that Akainu had been sent after _him_ , not Teach, and wouldn’t let him go.

He set his body alight, watching warily as Doberman and Onigumo placed themselves a step behind Akainu.

“Magma burns hotter than fire.” Said Sakazuki, turning his own fists into magma. Ace wasn’t the half starved, weakened by weeks in captivity that he had been the last time they fought, and he was more wary of his skills, but the Commander's grasp on haki had always been weak at best, so he knew he would easily win this fight if it came to it.

However, if he didn’t want Whitebeard to turn against them, he couldn’t kill Ace with his obvious magma powers, and the Commander wouldn’t take long to see that he was using only normal attacks to beat him up. He needed to kill him before Onigumo or Doberman were forced to get involved.

He sent a wave of magma at him, Ace dodging it easily just as he had planned. Armament haki covered his arms, easily shielding him from Ace’s Fire Fist and allowing him to counter attack. One hand grabbed onto Ace’s outstretched arm, sending him tumbling forward, the other slapping hard onto the bottom of his jaw.

Ace groaned in pain as his head was violently snapped back. He turned on himself to keep his balance, putting himself in place to try to slam Akainu against the floor. The Admiral released his hand before he could finish his move, and used their proximity to slam his foot against Ace’s stomach, sending the young adult flying into one of the destroyed houses surrounding them.

He jumped after him, not leaving him the time to right himself, grabbed onto his hair and slammed his head once, twice against the floor. Ace groaned weakly under him as he kept him pinned by his weight. His hand closed around the pirate throat, and he slowly increased the pressure, making sure he couldn’t breath.

Ace squirmed under him, but he let him, confident in his ability to choke him before he had the time to free himself.

The dagger embedding itself into his side was a surprise.

Ace’s eyes were wide as he put all his considerable force into jerking the dagger up, aiming for Akainu’s heart. He managed to raise it for a dozen centimeters, before the ribs stopped his move. He dug his heels into the ground, tried to blink away the black spots that had started to appear in his vision, when Akainu suddenly shifted on top of him.

The dagger was wrenched from his grip, Akainu using one of his hands to throw it away from them. It gave him just enough freedom to move his head slightly, enough to take one breath before Akainu’s grip resumed its former strength.

“Fucking… Marine… Bastard.” He choked out, voice rough.

Sakazuki froze on top of him at that, his grip lessening slightly.

_He can lead the Marines on the right path._

The sentence repeated himself in his head, and he suddenly understood where he had heard this voice before. The world Marine, said just the same way.

Roger. How could he have forgotten how Roger sounded like. He had heard the man a few times on the battlefield while he was younger, and this wasn’t the kind of thing you forgot.

_Why_ had Roger decided to send him back in time ? Sure, he had influence over the Marines, but there wasn’t any certainty that he wouldn’t use his knowledge of the future to annihilate as many future pirates as he could. Issho would have been a better choice, he could admit. The man had been in Impel Down with them, and had a strong set of morals that would have ensured he did everything for the betterment of the world, even if he had the tendencies to let things happen and act at the last second.

A glance at Ace under him was all the answer he needed. Even if he had joined the Marines earlier, became an Admiral instead of him, Issho would have never been able to stop him from applying his brand of justice, not when the Gorosei was more than happy to back him up.

Roger had needed someone that would be able to curtail his most murderous tendencies, and the only person able to do that was himself.

He made a split second decision, his hands clenching once again against Ace’s jaw. He leaned until he was next to Ace’s ear, and whispered too lowly for the Vice Admirals to hear, “I’m only letting you live thanks to your birth father.”

Everyone had seen what Ace thought of Roger, and this would certainly mess with his head. Ace managed to tense even further under him, but lost consciousness not a second later.

He kept the pressure far longer, until Ace’s presence was barely a blip on his haki, and slammed one last time his head against the floor.

Ace’s presence disappeared for good, and only the faint pulse against his hand reassured him that he hadn’t killed the man.

He was already regretting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /Warning/ Sakazuki likes to injure people by melting part of their body. I don’t think this deserves a 'mature' or 'graphic depiction of violence' tag since I tagged canon typical violence, but I’m open to change if someone thinks I should do it. /Warning/  
> Real notes (so spoilers if you haven't read the chapter) :  
> I don’t like Blackbeard so he dies. Not really a major character death since he didn’t do anything major (except kill Thatch :( ) I _do_ like Ace however.


	9. Why Triggering a Buster Call When an Admiral Is Near Isn’t the Brightest Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Sakazuki was busy murdering people, our favorite crew was invading Enies Lobby. Spandam is an asshole with too much power and too careless about what Den Den Mushi he’s using.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> … when the Admiral isn’t Kuzan. Seriously, he was at Enies Lobby just watching everything happen and never intervened. Like, stop the destruction of one of the Marine strongholds, do something.

When Sakazuki stood up and turned, and saw the _look_ both Onigumo and Doberman were giving him, he knew that they hadn’t missed the -rather obvious- way he froze. And knowing them, they wouldn’t let this go without wanting to know what had happened.

It was one of the downsides of being more approachable (he refused to use the word friendly, even in his own mind). He was unused to anyone other than the Admiral questioning him openly, even if it was only in private. They weren’t suicidal but they weren’t afraid of him either.

“We need to make sure the rest of Blackbeard’s crew has been apprehended.” It was rather weak for a diversion, but they did need to do that, so with one last look shared between them, the two Vice Admirals followed him silently toward where the ships should have boarded the island.

As they neared the edge of the island, they could feel the distress of the Marines accompanying them. It wasn’t overpowering, so nothing extreme had happened, but the rest of Blackbeard’s crew must have been more difficult to capture than they had expected. The most powerful members had been the one he had recruited in Impel Down’s level six, but the older members hadn’t been weak either, especially when they started to get Devil Fruits.

He confidently strode out of the cover that were giving him the trees and onto the beach where one of the warships had landed, and promptly took a step back to avoid taking a bullet through the head. One look confirmed him that the rest of the Blackbeard Pirates had been apprehended, only their sniper Van Augur being still free to make trouble for them.

“I’ll take care of this.” Said Doberman, daring Sakazuki to protest with a side look.

“Don’t give me orders.” He said mildly before starting to walk toward the warship, making sure that his admiral coat was covering the wound Ace had given him. Onigumo followed after him a second later, easily falling a step behind.

“Start preparing for our departure, Doberman will take care of him.” He ordered the closest group of Marines that were hiding from Van Augur’s line of fire. He resumed his walk, reaching the ship without problems and ordering the Marines there to get the rest of Blackbeard’s crew in the brig.

“What about Blackbeard and Fire Fist, sir ?” Asked one of the men. A quick look placed him as a Lieutenant Commander, and he gulped nervously under the combined gaze of Sakazuki and Onigumo, but didn’t back down.

“Neither of them are alive.” He said calmly. A hush fell over the warship.

The Lieutenant swallowed once again to steel his nerves. “Shall we take the bodies with us ?”

“If you want to make it seem to Whitebeard that we have been the ones to kill one of his precious sons, then go ahead. I would rather he find their body and understand that Fire Fist died by Blackbeard’s hand just as we reached the fight.”

The crew around him relaxed slightly, glad that they weren’t learning that Whitebeard’s second commander had been killed by a Marine. None of the bases in the Grand Line would have survived the Yonko’s revenge, and as the ones that were here when Fire Fist died… They would have been annihilated.

“Send Doberman to my office when he comes back.” Sakazuki ordered.

The walk to his temporary office in the warship passed in silence. Onigumo leaned back against the door, making sure that nobody would interrupt them, and watched silently as Sakazuki patched himself up, the wound deep enough that he needed stitches. He would never show weakness in front of the lower-ranked Marines and preferred to heal in private, not that he was wounded often.

“What was that ?” Asked the Vice Admiral as soon as Sakazuki put down the needle.

Sakazuki shot him a warning glare. He wasn’t willing to put up with insubordination, and coupled with Doberman’s order from earlier, the two Vice Admirals were fast approaching it.

Onigumo ducked his head, accepting the silent rebuke. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, trying to find a way to ask that wouldn’t be too aggressive.

“I’ve never seen you freeze on the battlefield.” He settled on. “It’s worrying to know that something can disturb you that much.”

Sakazuki sighed. Their concern, while unwanted, was valid, and he couldn’t dismiss it if he wanted to keep their trust and closeness.

“He said something that awoke some memories.” He finally settled on.

“When he called you a bastard ?” Asked Onigumo, barely managing to curb the sarcasm in his voice.

“The way he called me a bastard.” He answered.

The Vice-Admiral seemed to mull his answer over, but was interrupted by a knock before he could ask more questions.

“Sir, sorry to bother you, but there is something urgent happening at Enies Lobby.” Called a Marine on the other side of the door.

With a nod from Sakazuki, Onigumo opened the door, looking at the panting Marine in front of him.

“What is it ?” Asked Sakazuki.

“A Buster Call had been ordered at Enies Lobby an hour and a half ago, Sir.” Onigumo jerked slightly in shock, the move unnoticeable if you didn’t know him well.

Sakazuki clenched his jaw for a second, getting himself ready to manipulate this to his advantage. He rose from his position and headed toward the door.

“Who called it ?”

“Cipher Pol Nine’s director Spandam, Sir.”

“He doesn’t have the right to call for a Buster Call.” Said sharply Onigumo.

“Which Vice Admirals were sent ?” Asked Sakazuki, walking swiftly toward the communication room, the marine struggling to keep the pace.

“Uh- Vice Admirals Momonga, Strawberry, Yamakaji, Stainless, and Bastille.” The ensign read from a hastily scribbled note.

“Get me a Den Den Mushi to Vice Admiral Bastille.” He ordered as he entered the communication room. He was one of the most level headed Vice Admiral there and wasn’t as perceptive as Momonga, which was for the better in this situation. One was swiftly put in his hand, and he called Bastille just as Doberman entered the room.

“The Blackbeards are all in the brig.” He informed him quietly. “I’ll make sure we’re ready to depart as soon as possible.”

Sakazuki nodded in thanks as Bastille picked up the receiver on the other side.

“Bastille.”

“Vice Admiral Bastille. What happened.” He said sharply.

“Cipher Pol Nine’s director triggered a Buster Call-dara.” He answered.

“He does not have the right to call for one.”

“He had Admiral Aokiji’s golden Den Den Mushi, and confirmed with the right codes the attack-dara. Enies Lobby was being invaded by the Straw Hat’s Pirates, who managed to defeat every member of CP9. Spandam orders where… Conflicting, Admiral.”

“What did he do ?”

“We had orders not to target Nico Robin and to retrieve her unarmed-dara. He tried to order us to kill her when he saw she was managing to escape, saying that he had the authorization from Admiral Aokiji. I refused to follow them unless I could confirm directly with Aokiji, which I couldn’t do.”

Doberman, the sly bastard, had had no problem trying to kill her the last time. He hadn’t been officially reprimanded for it, since he had been technically following orders he believed were coming from Aokiji’s himself, but he had been sent to the worst parts of the New World for a few weeks as a punishment, before he had to be recalled for the battle of Marineford.

“You did good, Bastille.” He reassured him. “Cipher Pol actions have been worrying lately, and you avoided killing a woman that the World Government definitely wants alive.”

“... The Straw Hats pirates managed to escape.” Said Bastille, and Sakazuki could admire him for not beating around the bush.

“How did that happen ?”

“The Gates of Justice started to close while we were giving chase-dara. We are looking into it now, but I haven’t heard yet of the Marines sent to investigate. Momonga took the decision, which I approved of, not to sink the ship they used to escape because Nico Robin was on board.”

“Save the details for your after mission report.” He answered. “I’m coming back to Enies Lobby. Call back the men you sent to the Gates of Justice and start looking for survivors on the island. It’s better if none of you are involved with the investigation.” He covered the receiver with his hand and turned toward Onigumo. “Look into what Spandam has been doing recently. If he was lying about receiving orders from Aokiji, he might have lied about other things. I want us to have an ongoing investigation before CP Zero gets their hand on this and make the evidence disappear.”

“Where is Spandam now ?” He asked, turning back to his conversation with Bastille.

“On Strawberry’s ship-dara.”

“Tells him to keep him detained. I don’t want him to have contact with anyone, especially not from Cipher Pol, until we’ve cleared what happened.”

“I will.”

Sakazuki hung up, and had to prevent a smile from forming. Nico Robin was safe, he had Spandam in custody and would be able to look at what exactly Cipher Pol had been doing all that time, maybe he’ll even manage to justify that the Marines needed to have more control over them. He didn’t doubt that Rob Lucci had escaped alive, but without Spandam placing the blame for Enies Lobby on him and forcing him to get in contact with CP0, the man might not rejoin Cipher Pol. He wasn’t sure what had happened to him last time. Cipher Pol Aigis Zero was under direct control from the Tenryuubito, but more than that they were in contact with Im. While Lucci didn’t seem to be the type of person that would care about the atrocities the World Government had committed, he doubted he had been spared from Im’s attempt to jail every Devil Fruit user.

~~One Piece~~

While Sakazuki was planning, back on Banaro Island, a pirate woke up.

Ace slowly blinked his eyes open, the pain in his throat making him want to immediately fall back asleep.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

He turned his head slightly to look at the man that had just talked. He looked to be around forty, nothing remarkable about him.

“We found you half dead in one of the houses that had been destroyed. Some of the habitants had been close enough to see that you had been fighting that man -Blackbeard, right ?- before the Marines arrived, so they took you to me. I’m not really a doctor, but I have read a few books, you see…” The man continued to ramble, before stopping abruptly as Ace laid a hand on his arm.

“Den Den Mushi.” He said, before having a violent coughing fit that only hurt his throat more.

“You really shouldn’t speak.” Said the man nervously. Ace raised his head just enough to glare at him, and the man fell silent.

“I need a Den Den Mushi.” He forced himself to say. “Right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week will be very busy for me (who thought it was a good idea to put three different tests on the same day ?) so I don’t think I’ll have the time to post the next chapter. The Enies Lobby arc is over, and we’ll have a change of point-of-view in the next chapters...


	10. Sabaody Archipelago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Why Drake Shouldn’t Follow Other Supernovas If He Doesn’t Want To Get In Trouble.

Being in Sabaody, so close to a Marine Base, was at the same time nice and stressful. Drake had always associated the Marines with safety, even when his father was forcing him to be a pirate. This was tempered by the fact that if they could, they would arrest him and throw him in Impel Down, if they didn’t kill him first for being a traitor.

He kept mainly to the lawless area, not wanting to attract too much attention to himself. Not while he was stuck on Sabaody waiting for the coating to be done. He had ventured a few times in the lawful area, mostly to observe the other members of his generation. Supernovas, they were calling them. Had he started his mission only a year earlier, he would only have Cavendish to compete with. But now, they were eleven of them, all stealing the spotlight from each other. Most didn’t matter, as they wouldn’t interest Kaido, but some worried him.

He knew Law wasn’t aiming for Kaido but for a pink-wearing Shichibukai, but he had no idea what were the goals of the ones most likely to disturb his mission : Hawkins, Eustass Kid, and Monkey D. Luffy.

From what intel Sakazuki had obtained, Kid was more likely to insult the Yonko and get killed by him than to join. Straw Hat seemed to be the kind of guy that wouldn’t let a homicidal bastard like Kaido free if he could beat him up, which he could use if he managed to join the Yonko’s crew before the teen found a way to anger him.

Hawkins had his own goal and ambitions, of course, but he was far smarter than the other two. He would join a Yonko if it meant saving his life, and his ability to predict the future made him surprisingly unpredictable.

He had arrested him once, back in the North Blue when Hawkins hadn't yet started as a captain and Drake was still trying to prove himself to a bunch of assholes that could only see his father when they looked at him.

He couldn’t remember what for, something to do with his cards. He must have predicted something to a Noble that wasn’t appreciated, and had the Marines called on him. Hawkins had played masterfully the Marines at the base, playing the role of a young and harmless fortune teller, letting them taunt and jibe without responding with more than a bashful smile and a reddening of his cheeks.

His lithe form had helped, his long hair making him appear younger than he was, and the other Marines had relaxed, not believing him a threat.

It had changed when one went to grab his cards.

Drake had seen the danger coming half a second before Hawkins moved, but hadn’t done anything as the younger male suddenly grabbed the head of the base Captain and impaled his eyes on a pencil. This particular Captain had been passing him over for promotion for the last 3 years, and he had secretly been glad to see him get hurt like that.

He had half-heartedly given chase to Hawkins, and they both knew that had he wanted to catch him, he would have succeeded. He had just chosen to let him escape that time.

Since then, Hawkins had been careful not to meet him again while he was a Marine. Once he had officially become a pirate, they had crossed paths a few times, but had kept out of each other business and had maintained a friendly relationship.

He would need to see if Hawkins went after Kaido before he could start to plan.

Most of the Supernovas had reached the island, the only ones missing were the Strawhats, and there were rumors they had been seen close. He had met a few of them, interrupting a fight between Killer and Urouge that had been too close to the edge between the lawless and the lawful areas for his comfort.

Those pirates were far too willing to fight at the slightest provocation, and he didn’t want to delay his entrance in the New World because one of them attracted too much attention and forced the Marines to intervene.

Law had been here, the smirky bastard, talking about the men he had killed as if he had the right. Someone who got called the Surgeon of Death shouldn’t go around judging people.

Even if those people were supposedly disgraced Marine officers that destroyed every Marine base they encountered. G2 had had it coming really, their commanding officer had been willing to accept bribes and nobody had even tried to report it. He was doing the Marine’s dirty work while still increasing his own reputation as a pirate.

Since his bounty had recently reached 280 million beri, slightly behind Straw Hat and Kid to his disarray (and to Sakazuki’s, the Admiral had seemed far too angry to learn that Kid had the highest bounty of them all), he could say that the first part of his mission to attract Kaido’s attention had been successful.

“The Hearts Pirates are splitting up.” Informed him Norrey from behind, looking into the distance. His navigator had far better eyes than him, but a quick check with his haki confirmed that Law, Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo were going a different way from the rest of the crew.

“They seem to be heading toward the first grooves.” He noticed. “Call the rest of the crew, have some of them tail the rest of the Hearts Pirates. I want to know where they are hiding their submarine.” He jumped from the roof he was sitting on, Norrey following him a second later. “We’re following Law. I want to know why he would split with his crew.”

“He is staying in the lawless area.” Said his navigator. “I didn’t see anyone else around him, so he’s probably not going for a fight.”

“Eh, he could be. He doesn't need to get his submarine coated, so he is staying here for something. Maybe he wants something from one of the Supernovas.”

“He had been roaming around as much as we did, I’m pretty sure he has already met every one of us.”

“Straw Hat wasn’t there earlier.” He remarked idly. “He might have reached the island recently.”

“Should we stay around ? There’s bound to be a fight, Straw Hat doesn't seem to be the most stable guy.”

“He’s a show-off.” Grumbled Drake under his breath.

“We haven’t destroyed a Marine base since G2. Your bounty isn’t far behind, we could do something grand to celebrate our entrance in the New World.”

That was what was nice when you publicly left the Marines. Other former Marines with a fight to pick with the Government had flocked to his crew once he had started to make a name for himself, and he hadn’t needed to train them on how to fight or how to follow orders. They also had the same mindset, and knew how to best anger the World Government.

And he wouldn’t be too sad if they died by Kaido’s hand, or if they all got arrested at the end of his mission. Some had some real reasons to leave the Marines, and he kept them in the most important position in his crew and would ask for leniency either with Kaido or Sakazuki, but they had still joined a pirate crew, had betrayed the Marines and what he believed in.

While he might not be a follower of Absolute Justice, he didn’t hesitate to do what was needed. He wouldn’t risk his life or his mission for his crew.

“I would need to attack Marineford to outshine Straw Hat.” 

The lack of answer told him how much of a good idea it was.

~~One Piece~~

It turned out that Law was going to the Auction House on Groove 1. Given that Doflamingo’s symbol was adorning the walls, it wasn’t surprising.

What was slightly more surprising was the presence of the Kid Pirates, who stayed at the back near the door. They probably weren’t interested in buying anyone, since he didn’t see Eustass Kid encumbering himself with a slave where they were probably a lot of pirates wanting to join a crew as bloodthirsty as his.

The man probably just found this fun.

However, the discrete entrance of what he quickly recognized as members of the Straw Hat crew was totally unexpected. They stayed cluttered around the red hair -Cat Burglar Nami, her poster didn’t do her justice- and seemed to wait anxiously for something.

Were they planning to buy someone ? It didn’t match their attitude.

“What are they doing here.” He whispered.

“There isn’t everyone from their crew. Not the Captain, not the first mate… The blond one must be Black Leg Sanji. I don’t know who’s the weird hairy guy.”

“Black Leg ? Hmm, I don’t see it.” He answered, tilting his head to the side. The portraitist had really fucked up his sketch. “The other might be a new crew member. It seems like the blue-haired guy who got a bounty at Enies Lobby joined them.”

The arrival of another Tenryuubito stopped every conversation. From his position on the side, he could see that even the Kid Pirates had tensed up when the man had walked close. The auctioneer continued presenting the slaves, as if he found it was normal to have a Tenryuubito here. He supposed it was, the Marine turned a blind eye to the slave trade for the sole reason that the Tenryuubito wanted it to continue.

The auctioned pirate biting his tongue barely stopped the sale, and the curtains opened a few minutes after they had closed to hide the corpse, showing a mermaid.

Everyone in the auction house started to whisper again, and he could see the Straw Hats tense from their position behind the Heart Pirates. Given the presence of what was obviously a Fishman at their side, he could guess that the Mermaid was a friend of theirs.

The auctioneer started to talk about how rare mermaids were, called out for the auction to start, and before anyone could talk the Tenryuubito that had arrived in the middle of the auction called out his prize.

500 million. From the way the Straw Hats’ face fell, they hadn’t expected that.

Kid scoffed derisively and turned his back to the scene just as something crashed loudly in the middle of the crowd.

The shout of “Luffy” from Black Leg only confirmed what he thought. You needed to be crazy to crash into a place like that. The Captain started to argue with Pirate Hunter Zoro and the rest of the crew, before he seemed to remember why he was here and started to run toward the caged (aquariumed ?) mermaid.

“Fucking hell.” Whispered Norrey at his side. “Is he really going to try to free her ?”

“They might be reluctant to activate the explosive collar given that a Tenryuubito wants her.”

The fishman accompanying them tried to stop Straw Hat, revealing his species and earning disgusted shouts from the buyers around him. As if they weren’t ready just seconds ago to buy a mermaid.

Straw Hat continued to run, the guards trying to stop him, when a gunshot rang through the air, freezing everyone in their tracks.

They all watched, slightly horrified, as the Tenryuubito who had just shot someone started to dance upon his body demanding he be given away as a slave for free.

“Disgusting.” He said lowly.

The Straw Hats seemed the most shocked at the behavior, but they hadn’t been on the Grand Line for too long. They might not have seen how depraved humans could get.

Straw Hat Luffy took a step forward, and Drake’s haki immediately warned him of the danger emanating from him.

“He’s going to do something stupid.” He warned Norrey, as they watched the Octopus Fishman try to restrain him. The Tenryuubito made the mistake of pointing once again his gun at him, attracting Straw Hat’s attention in the process, and Drake felt a moment of indecision where he wondered if he shouldn’t try to prevent what was going to happen. It was his duty as a Marine to protect the Tenryuubito, no matter the cost.

It was only for a moment though. He wasn’t here as a Marine, and right now he could totally understand why so many people turned to piracy. Had he seen something like that when he was a child, he wouldn’t have joined the Marines after his father’s death.

Straw Hat started to walk up the stairs, his face filled with rage. He cocked his fist back, avoiding the bullets… And smashed his fist into the Tenryuubito's head.

He might have expected something like that to happen, but it was still shocking. He kept his expression blank, not wanting to show how he felt about what just happened. Right in front of him, Law smirked more widely than usual, the proof that he was delighted by the scene.

The rest of Luffy’s crew got involved in the fight that broke with the Tenryuubito’s guards and the room quickly emptied of anyone that wasn’t either associated with the Tenryuubito, the auction house, or a pirate.

Kid had gone back to lean against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the chaos happening in front of him. Drake slid down a little in his seat, taking advantage of the absence of people in front of him to straighten his legs.

Then the rest of the Straw Hat arrived, which apparently included a talking skeleton now, and they talked about how Strawhat had attracted the attention of an Admiral.

“The Marines are already here.” Said Law, his voice rising just enough to be clearly heard by all. “They have been surrounding the auction house all along. I don’t know who they’re after, but I doubt they expected anyone to attack a Tenryuubito.”

“Trafalgar Law.” Recognized Nico Robin. “Luffy, that man is a pirate.”

The arrival of Dark King Rayleigh interrupted every conversation they had.

And fuck. Did anyone know that the Pirate King’s right hand was on Sabaody ? They had to, the Marines had surrounded the auction house before the first Supernovas arrived, so it means they were here for the Dark King himself. Which, one, was stupid, since none of the Marines outside even reached the rank of Vice-Admiral, and he doubted any Vice outside of Garp would be able to beat the man, and two, this meant that the Marines had the time to plan this, which meant that Sengoku, at least, was aware of what was happening, and no one had thought to inform him of it.

The Conqueror Haki’s blast from Rayleigh took him by surprise. At his side, Norrey slumped slightly in his seat but managed to stay conscious.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you, Straw Hat Luffy.”

Marineford wouldn’t be happy to hear that. At least he wouldn’t be the one that had to find out why, exactly, was the first mate of the previous Pirate King interested in a rookie.

Rayleigh finally seemed to notice his, Law and Kid’s presence, though he had no doubt that the man had always been aware they were here, and congratulated them on withstanding his haki. He barely glanced in his direction, his gaze not stopping on him longer than it had on the other captains, but he couldn’t help but feel wary. He hadn’t expected to meet someone that strong here, and he knew that he wouldn’t have a chance of survival if he ever tried something.

Would he always feel like this once he reached Kaido ? He had no doubt that the Yonko was much more intimidating than Rayleigh right now, the man being fairly relaxed in their presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a few chapters like this one where Sakazuki doesn’t really appear, because I think they’re important to the progression of the story. I think seeing the impact Sakazuki’s decisions had on other events is interesting. We’ll see more of Drake in the future (cause, you know, Wano), so that way we don’t jump from Marine Drake to super-strong -tobiroppo Drake.


	11. How Fighting An Admiral And Living To Tell The Tale Is A Good Way To Get A Bounty Raise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Straw Hat Luffy has punched a Tenryuubito, and an Admiral has been called. Drake gets reminded that he might be powerful for a rookie in Paradise, but he’s not _that_ strong yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with a chapter title, because I don't spend my time thinking of titles for each chapter only to forget to add them and only notice a month later.

Kid had to be an asshole, of course. He had taunted them by saying he would take care of the Marines outside of the auction house, and no respectable Captain would have let him disparage their ability like that.

Law, Kid, and Luffy were all bickering, Drake watching them with a blank face. The marines finally decided to attack, firing cannonballs at them. He easily defected the one aiming for him with his axe, and observed the other Captains. Straw Hat inflated himself and sent it toward the sky, Smoker having reported that the teen had the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Being able to transform a Devil Fruit that seemed weak into something worth fighting with showed that despite not seeming to be the brightest guy, he was at least street smart.

Kid repelled the cannonball with a flick of his hand, sending it back toward the Marines. He had one of the paramecia that allowed him to control metal or something similar, but it was hard to know which one exactly. Law activated a Room, switching the cannonball with one of the Marines’ heads. Poor guy.

“Be careful !” Shouted one of the Marines. “They’re all Devil Fruit users.”

“Some of us didn’t need their Devil Fruit to protect themselves against one cannonball.” Taunted Drake.

Law sent him a deadly glare which he ignored. Kid looked at him with narrowed eyes, while Luffy didn’t seem to care.

“You have weird powers.” He laughed.

“Yours’ the weirdest.” Countered Kid.

Law, seemingly tired with their discussion, started to attack again, the other Captains following suit. Both Drake and Luffy jumped right into the middle of the fight, Luffy’s fist growing in size to take out as many Marines as possible, while Drake simply used both his axe and sword at the same time to cut the Marines down.

They wouldn’t die from this. Probably.

The rest of their crews reached them just as the dust settled, revealing the downed form of the Marines trying to ambush them. He glanced down at Straw Hat that had somehow shrunk, probably a downside to his attack earlier.

“Do you need help ?” His sarcasm probably wasn’t obvious, given that he kept his tone pretty even, but Law still smirked slightly.

“Na. I’m-” His body suddenly grew up, and Luffy put a hand on his Straw Hat. “-back to normal.”

“The next time I see you, I won’t let you go without a fight.” Threatened Kid.

“Shishishi… I’m the one who is going to find the One Piece anyway.”

He had said it calmly, like he had no doubt about it. Maybe Rayleigh had sensed that about him. It wasn’t a taunt, he was just telling the truth as he saw it : Straw Hat Luffy would be the one to find the One Piece.

The Marines tried to use their distracting states to attack, but Killer intervened to protect Kid and they refocused on their surroundings.

“Let’s meet up in the New World.” Challenged Kid, and the fight restarted. The Kid and Heart’s Pirates went one way, Drake and Norrey following the Straw Hats as their ship was in the same direction. They separated once they reached Grove 13, the Straw Hats going with Rayleigh while Drake continued ahead.

“Do you know how long we have until an Admiral reaches here ?” Asked the navigator.

“They might already be there.” He answered calmly. And wouldn’t it be nice, if they send Sakazuki ? He might talk to the man sometime, but it was only ever about work. The Admiral was his only contact with the Marine, and he missed it.

He slowed down to a job, an idea having popped up in his head. A crazy one. 

He could make it work.

“What is it ?” Asked Norrey, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

“Call the crew. Tells them to get ready to sail as soon as we reach them. Whatever Admiral comes here, he won’t stop before he has captured or killed the Straw Hats, and I want to see them fight to the best of their ability before they get wiped out.”

“You want to stay here ?” He choked out.

He stared at him for a second. “I won’t force you to stay with me. You can go back to the ship.”

“I’m not letting you face an Admiral alone !” He protested.

If only such loyalty had been directed at the Marines.

“I don’t plan on fighting them.” He half lied. If it was Sakazuki, he definitely wanted to fight him. He wouldn’t go against Aokiji though, the man would be able to just freeze him and it would be ridiculous.

~~One Piece~~

They could hear a fight starting in one of the Groves, and they quickly moved toward it. They reached them just in time to see the three highest bounties of the Straw Hat crew, Straw Hat, the Pirate Hunter, and Black Leg, take down Bartholomew Kuma.

“Did they just beat up a Shichibukai ?” Asked Norrey.

“It seems like it… I thought Kuma was stronger.” Answered Drake.

The arrival of another guy looking exactly like Kuma answered him.

“Did they clone him ?”

 _So Vegapunk’s experiment worked… The Pacifistas have been completed._ The Straw Hats split up and tried to run, but the Pacifista destroyed the bridge before they could escape.

“Time to jump in.” Drake decided.

“I’m covering you from here.” Said Norrey, grabbing the rifle that was strapped at his back.

Drake reached the guy -Sentomarou, he had introduced himself- just in time to prevent him from sending a flying attack at Straw Hat.

“Former Rear Admiral Drake !” He spat, taking on a fighting stance. “How could you be so low as to become a pirate !”

Drake didn’t answer, his face staying stoic as he watched the man in front of him. He wasn’t wearing the Marine symbol, but he probably worked with Vegapunk since he seemed to have some sort of control over the Pacifistas.

An explosion to his left made him turn his head slightly, his haki sharpening in this direction. There was someone, but they were too fast for him to get a read on their presence.

“Finally decided to show up, uncle Kizaru.” Grunted Sentomarou.

Not Sakazuki then.

Nico Robin shouted a warning to her crew, and the smoke cleared revealing Kizaru standing over Roronoa Zoro, who seemed to be frozen on the ground.

None of the Straw Hats would react in time, he knew that. He should let Kizaru kill him, he was one of the Supernova, one of the pirates that had invaded Enies Lobby, had invaded one of the three strongholds of the Marines, had faced Cipher Pol Nine and a Buster Call, and still survived.

Fuck.

Either he managed to save his life, and if the Straw Hats escaped he would have their trust and would be able to turn them in when Sakazuki ordered it, or he was too late and Kizaru managed to kill him, which would be one less problem for the Marines.

He tried to convince himself that his argument was perfectly reasonable, and that he didn’t just want to clash against an Admiral after more than a year since he had last fought Sakazuki.

He jumped forward, tried to put as much speed as possible in his movements. He was close enough that he reached the admiral before he could finish his attack, covered his sword with haki, and swung them toward Kizaru’s neck. It clashed against Kizaru’s own armament haki, and the Admiral used their closeness to elbow him violently, sending him flying for a few meters before he could right himself.

Just as he had thought, the attack had been enough to distract him and Nico Robin seized this opportunity to use her powers to get Roronoa away.

“Re~ar Admiral Drake.” Kizaru acknowledged, and hearing someone say his rank like that, without taunting him for being a former marine, filled Drake with so much warmth that he almost dropped his axe.

“Hmm… Or should I say, former Rear Admiral.” He said, his smile not quite a smirk even if he had definitely seen how his words impacted Drake and was mocking him. The bastard. “I’m here to take care of the Straw Hats, but I can’t let you run free either.”

Drake's face stayed stoic, his posture battle-ready even though he was letting Kizaru attack him first. The Admiral would have a reason to leave his fight at any moment to chase after the Straw Hats, so neither were put in the difficult position where they had to fight for real. He knew he would have found a way to escape if he was arrested, but not before the Marines that hated him had had the chance to get their revenge for his betrayal.

Kizaru suddenly used his powers to reappear right next to him, his haki warning him of the move with just enough time for him to avoid being hit by the first laser. The second one grazed his cheek, and he didn’t manage to escape Kizaru’s kick. He crashed into one of the mangroves right next to Straw Hat who was covering up his crew’s escape, almost taking out Sentomarou in the process.

“You okay ?” Panted Straw Hat.

“Don’t talk, run.” He ordered, grabbing him and forcing him into a run, barely avoiding another beam from Kizaru. They quickly caught up with Nico Robin and the reindeer who had slowed down slightly.

“He won’t stop until he has caught everyone on your crew.” He warned Straw Hat as he saw him glance back toward where another part of his crew was running and getting attacked by one of the Pacifista. “Don’t worry about them, get yourself out.”

“I’m not abandoning them.”

“It’s not abandon when you’re outclas- duck !” He threw himself over Nico Robin, shielding her with his body as an explosion rocked the mangrove they just went past. They rolled for a few meters before the blow from the explosion diminished enough for him to stand back up, tugging her hand to force her on her feet.

Kizaru shot a beam through Straw Hat’s shoulder before turning to face them, dismissing the panicked reindeer on his other side. Drake got his sword ready to deflect the attack, when a bullet suddenly pierced Kizaru’s head.

His haki quickly found out the sniper, Kizaru glancing in the same direction, not at all bothered by the shot.

“Get out of here !” He shouted as he recognized the presence of his navigator. Kizaru pointed a finger in his direction and he could feel Norrey scramble to hide himself, but he wouldn’t be quick enough. Drake transformed one of his hands into a claw and grabbed Kizaru’s arm, managing to move it enough that his attack went wide. He got a beam in the leg for his trouble, and staggered under the pain.

“Get out of here or I’ll kill you myself.” He roared, the Zoan breaking out for a second.

“Insubordination, u~h.” Taunted Kizaru.

What followed was a fight that resembled more a smackdown than anything else. Drake managed to hold his own enough that he wasn’t too wounded, but Kizaru often sneaked out shots toward the Straw Hats who were struggling against the Pacifistas and Sentomarou.

He knew he was doing better than any other Supernova would have done against Kizaru thanks to his training with Sakazuki, but as he panted, struggling to get back on his feet, he was reminded of how much strength separated the Admirals from the rest of the world. At least Kizaru wasn’t going easy on him, that would be humiliating, the Admiral restraining himself just enough not to mortally wound him. His haki warned him of another incoming attack, one he wouldn’t have the time to dodge, so he used armament on his side and hoped his cracked ribs wouldn’t break under the impact.

He once again was sent where Straw Hat was fighting, and he suspected that Kizaru was doing it to make sure that he could turn against Straw Hat without it looking strange when Drake got too wounded to fight.

“Are you okay ?” Asked the reindeer, worry in his eyes as Nico Robin used her Devil Fruit to help him back up.

“As soon as I have an opening I’m getting out of here.” He warned them.

“Thanks, man.” Said Straw Hat, which wasn’t exactly the answer he was expecting. “I don’t know how long we would have lasted if we had to fight him too.” The rest of his crew looked hurt, and most of them only had to fight against the Pacifistas. Roronoa seemed to be in the worst state, what appeared to be old wounds having reopened on his body, and he wouldn’t survive if the fight lasted much longer.

Kizaru seemed to have the same idea, the Admiral turning his attention back toward the Pirate Hunter.

“Zoro !” Shouted Luffy at his side, starting to run toward his fallen crewmate. This time nobody was close enough to be of any help, and there was no Supernova hiding in the mangroves that would jump out at the last moment to save his life.

What jumped out of the mangroves was worse.

Dark King Rayleigh suddenly appeared, his foot clashing against Kizaru’s one and deflecting the attack. The Straw Hat sniper didn’t waste time grabbing his crewmate and they started to run away once again.

A quick glance confirmed that Sentomarou was going after the third group, composed of Black Leg, Cat Burglar, and the blue-haired man he didn’t remember the name of.

“Good luck on surviving.” He offered, before using this opportunity to disappear behind one of the mangroves and start to run away. A quick check confirmed that Norrey was following him at a slower rate, the man trying to stay out of view of any of the fighters.

It wasn’t long before they reunited, far enough away that they could no longer hear the sounds of the fight.

“How hurt are you ?” Asked his navigator.

“I’ll survive.” He answered curtly.

Reaching a more populated area was a relief. He could feel some people hiding in the building, most having run away. Given the state of the town, a fight must have broken out here too. A few bodies littered the floor, and it didn't take him long to recognize their clothes. There was only one crew that wore those dark clothes making them look like they were in a cult. 

Given Basil Hawkins’ personality, his crew probably _was_ a cult. Finding the captain unconscious on the floor wasn’t much of a surprise, he knew Hawkins wouldn’t have left the bodies of his dead crewmates behind while he ran away. Some of them were even alive, though hurt enough that their presence barely registered.

“Oi, Hawkins.” He lightly tapped him with his feet, and the man groaned. The blonde’s head rolled to face him and he blinked his eyes open. His face was almost blank, slightly tense because of the pain he was in, and he didn’t show his surprise at seeing Drake standing over him.

“You got a way to call your crew ? I don’t want to leave you here.”

Hawkins moved slightly, his hand searching for the Den Den he kept on him. The hole right in the snail’s head made him grimace slightly.

“Where’s your ship hidden ? I’m not staying here any longer than necessary.”

“Toward grove 30.” Answered Hawkins with a fleeting glance toward Norrey.

“Norrey, get back to the ship, tell the crew to wait for me at grove 30.” He ordered. The navigator looked ready to protest, but at seeing Drake’s expression nodded and started to jog toward where their own ship was hidden.

“How hurt are you ?” Drake asked as soon as they were alone.

“I had to create a doll out of one of my men to survive.” He answered calmly, struggling to put his weight on Drake as the zoan helped him get on his feet. “And I liked him.” It was no secret between them that part of his crew was only here in case he needed someone to die for him. He was just as ruthless as Drake, even if it often manifested in other ways.

“You faced Kizaru ?” Asked Drake.

“Hmm. And a man looking exactly like Bartholomew Kuma.”

“It’s one of the new weapons developed by the government. I saw a few of them myself. They seem strong, but beatable.”

“You also faced Kizaru.” Guessed Hawkins, pointing with the hand that wasn’t gripping Drake’s shoulder toward his injuries.

“I fought him for a time. Dark King Rayleigh interrupted before he could kill me.”

“You probably lasted longer than I did, and I had Strachman Apoo and Mad Monk Urouge fighting with me.”

Drake didn’t comment, and they kept walking in silence until they reached the end of the lawless area. The amusement park was empty, most people having moved farther away from the first groves when they heard that a Tenryuubito had been punched, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire when the admiral arrived.

“What do you plan to do, once you reach the New World ?” Asked Drake.

Hawkins shot him a side glance, well aware that he couldn’t afford not to answer. He trusted Drake just as much as he trusted Law, which wasn’t a lot, but he had known both men for years as they often met in the North Blue, even if he had never gotten too close to either of them. Drake had already been dangerous when he had the regulations of the Marines restraining him, and he didn’t know how much more since he had defected. The man wouldn’t hesitate in _pressuring_ him to answer his questions.

“I know it’s nothing like the first part of the Grand Line.” Finally answered Hawkins after thinking about what he was ready to divulge for a few minutes. “I plan to find my footing first. Then I’ll see how I fare against the powerhouses.” Drake accepted that, and when no other question was forthcoming, Hawkins asked one on his own.

“What about you ?” He asked. The corner of Drake’s lips lifted at his boldness. They both knew he was in no position to ask anything.

“I already have my own goals.” He answered, more out of respect for his fellow captain than anything. Hawkins wouldn’t get anything for his answer anyway.

“Like Law ?”

Drake couldn’t stop a snort from escaping him. “We both know Law’s fucking obsessed with his goal.” Not willing to mention Doflamingo’s name here, even if he couldn’t sense anyone close. “I don’t plan to die for mine.” 

He _was_ ready to die if it was what it took to accomplish his mission, of course. But Sakazuki had been clear, unless he died taking out Kaido himself, or at least most of his top executives, he would find a way to bring him back to life and demote him back to ensign. 

It was nice to know the man cared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hats get separated by Kuma just like in the canon, except this time there is no execution, which means no Marineford… And no reason for them to stay two years away training. We’re done with Drake for at least a few chapters, Sakazuki will reappear in the next one !


	12. The New Shichibukai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law’s plan to get rid of Doflamingo involves becoming a Shichibukai. Seeing the mess that had been Dressrosa the last time and the hit the Marine’s reputation took, Sakazuki won’t let him act on his own.

“What kind of creep offers one hundred still-beating hearts to become a Shichibukai.” Sighed Kuzan, leaning back against one of the guest chairs in Sakazuki’s office, his feet resting on the other one, his sleeping mask covering one of his eyes.

“Scary~. I told you, this new generation is scary.” Answered Borsalino from his position against the window. Sakazuki’s office had the one window that led toward the plaza Trafalgar Law had used to enter Marineford to meet with Sengoku and be offered the Shichibukai position, and it wouldn’t be long before he left by the same place.

“Get out of my office if you want to meet him that bad.” Sighed Sakazuki. Those two never let him work in peace.

“Why are we giving barely of age pirates immunity ?” Questioned idly Kuzan.

“He’s only five years younger than Boa Hancock.” Answered Sakazuki, and damn, they managed to get him involved in their discussion.

Kuzan sighed wistfully at her name. “Arara. I have no problem with her, I’ll give her every immunity she wants.”

“Suu~re you will.”

“Well, I have to give this to Sengoku.” Said Sakazuki, rising sharply from his chair and grabbing a file from his secured drawer.

“Come on, don’t kill the mood.” Complained Kuzan as he let his mask fall over his second eye.

“If I see feet marks on my desk when I come back I’m cutting your legs off.” He threatened, managing not to let his surprise show when he realized what he had just said. It had been a little under twenty-two years since he last saw _his_ Kuzan, and he still regretted wounding him so deeply. They hadn't liked each other, not like he could admit he liked Kuzan now, but he had still been a remarkable Marine, and even in his decision to leave the Marine he had found a way to help people.

He had timed his exit perfectly, since his haki warned him that Law was just leaving Sengoku’s office. Now officially a Shichibukai, he was allowed to roam Marineford without needing a Vice Admiral as an escort. And indeed there he was, a Lieutenant at his side and a satisfied smirk on his lips. Sakazuki kept going straight and purposely walked into him, forcing him to take a step back as they collided to keep his balance and avoid crashing on the floor. He used the move to slip one of the files he held into his jacket, something that wouldn’t be possible if a Marine more observable had accompanied Law.

“Watch where you’re going, pirate.” He grunted, a sneer on his lips.

“Careful, Admiral.” Answered Law, moving his fingers slightly in a taunt as if he was going to call a room. He started to walk again, forcing the Lieutenant to jog to catch up. _What was that about ?_ He wondered as he discreetly used his powers to create a small room around himself and move the file on his back so it wouldn’t be discovered.

Hours later, locked in his bedroom on the Polar Tang with the file wide open on his desk, he couldn’t help but repeat the same question. What the fuck was this about ? Why would someone like Akainu give him this ?

In front of him were various files depicting each member of the Donquixote Family, their abilities, how to best counter them, as well as every operation Akainu believed Doflamingo was involved in, from the takeover of Dressrosa to the most recent business about the Smiles.

Some of the information he had himself, but the most worrying part was the one about Sugar. The girl had joined the Donquixote’s Pirates after his departure and he hadn’t been aware of his existence, but her powers were scary.

She only needed to touch someone and their existence would disappear indefinitely from everyone's minds. Akainu had given him a list, and it was a long list, of people that had been sent after Doflamingo only for everyone to forget them. The list included a surprisingly high number of marines, he hadn’t thought that the World Government cared enough about the situation in Dressrosa to send people there, but also Revolutionaries, pirates, and officials coming from neighboring countries. He couldn’t help but wonder how he found out that many people.

Little did he know that Sugar’s power, while able to delete the information from Sakazuki’s mind about this timeline, didn’t work about all the memories he had on the people from the future. He extrapolated that it was because technically, those memories didn’t really exist yet and thus couldn’t be erased.

The other thing Law would never have guessed was that Doflamingo was a former Tenryuubito. He couldn’t help but think that it meant that Rosinante was one too. And he never told him about it.

Part of him couldn’t help but understand. Rosinante knew how much he hated the World Government, and he must be afraid that this hatred extended to the Tenryuubito and by extension himself. He also wasn’t aware of Law’s plan to take down Doflamingo, in which knowing that the man would be virtually untouchable unless the Marines directly witnessed him doing something wrong and couldn’t be ordered by the Tenryuubito to forget it, was _kind of_ important.

He stared at the paper where Akainu had written him a Den Den Mushi number, and decided that he needed to drink more coffee before calling him. And probably eat something too, or Shachi would nag.

~~One Piece~~

“Sakazuki.” Said a gruff voice on the other end of the call.

“Do you make the habit of giving your number to every young man you meet ?”

“At least let me make sure the call is secure before saying things like that.” He had forgotten that Law was that much of a sarcastic bastard. Much too confident for his own good, and while he was powerful, it wasn’t enough to back up his attitude.

“Why would you give me something like that ?” Asked Law after a second, his tone suddenly much more serious.

“I want Doflamingo out of the Shichibukai, and with the backing of the Tenryuubito, the Marines will never have the authorization to really investigate his activities. Not to the extent where it can’t be swept under the rug with Sugar’s powers. It wasn’t hard to find out what you thought of him.”

“And you think I can act against Doflamingo ? I didn’t join the Shichibukai because I planned to just go to Dressrosa and fight him.” Countered Law.

“As a Shichibukai, you have the right to call the Marines on him if you discover that he is breaking his agreement with the World Government. I have plans for him, plans that don’t involve Doflamingo rotting in Impel Down. You would be able to help me with that.” Said Sakazuki, and he could admit that the offer was enticing.

Still.

"I won't follow anyone's plan but mine." Said Law.

"And how would it have worked, without me giving you those files ?" 

Law sighed wearily. He didn't like this situation, and working with the one Admiral that was known for his hatred of pirates didn't sit right with him. However, Cora-san had told him about the Admirals as well as the other high ranking Marines he had interacted with, and he wouldn’t have expected someone with Akainu’s reputation to have a hand in saving Cora-san, in saving Doflamingo’s little brother. There was definitely more to the Admiral than his reputation, and he could admit that his previous plans wouldn't have worked, and he probably would have lost everything doing it. Survival wasn’t his goal but he didn’t want to pain his father too much by dying if it could be avoided.

“We should meet.” He answered. If Akainu wanted to take him down, he could do it anytime and Law wouldn’t be able to do anything to prevent it. If the man was willing to show up it at least showed him that he was serious about this.

“If you’re willing to stay in Paradise for a little longer, I know an island where we will be able to meet undisturbed.”

~~One Piece~~

Penguin was clutching Bepo, wanting to grab his captain, put him in seastone cuffs, and never let him meet with Admiral fucking Akainu.

Sadly, he knew he couldn’t betray Law’s trust like that, and he had resigned himself by the time the Polar Tang started to emerge, close enough to the land that Law could Shambles himself there. Shachi was scowling at his side, but none of them said anything.

They could tell that Law really wasn’t confident about what he was doing, since the man was usually better at hiding his unease.

“If something goes wrong-” Law started to say, before being interrupted by a soft “Captain…” coming from Shachi.

“If something goes wrong, I want you to flee, okay ?” He asked them, meeting each of their eyes for a few seconds. “We left the North Blue with a few goals, the most important ones being taking down Doflamingo and getting Bepo back to his home island. If Akainu decides to attack me, there will only be one goal left.”

“We’re not letting you die.” Protested Penguin.

“What would you be able to do ?” Asked harshly Law, making them all flinch. They knew that they weren’t as strong as their captain, that in the grand scheme of things they were weak by New World standards, but it still hurt.

“Please, guys. Whatever happens, I just want Bepo to make it back home.”

“I’d rather stay here.” Mumbled the Mink as he hugged Penguin’s body tightly against his side in an attempt to comfort himself.

“I don’t plan to die. I don’t think he will attack me, because it doesn’t _fit_ , but even if he does I’ll do my best to get out.” Promised Law. He looked up toward the island, and activated his room with a flick of his fingers. Without looking back toward his friends, he Shambled himself away, a rock taking his place on the Polar Tang.

There was only one building and it didn’t take long for him to reach it. He saw that Sakazuki was already here when he entered. He hadn’t seen a ship and wondered for a second how the man had come here, before deciding that he has other things to worry about.

“Admiral Akainu.” He said, a smirk pasted onto his face even if he didn’t feel like it. He wouldn’t show weakness, especially not in front of a Marine. Although being more polite than usual wouldn’t hurt.

“Trafalgar Law.” Answered Sakazuki, his arm crossed against his chest. 

What followed was a long discussion where Law was given insight into how much of a strategist Sakazuki could be. It was humbling, really, because he knew he wasn’t stupid, far from it, that he planned forward for every possibility he could see and always had back up plans in case something went wrong.

Sakazuki had back up plans in case _everything_ went wrong. He was able to scheme a new way to attack Doflamingo from scratch if the man managed to counter them at every turn.

When they were discussing what to do in case Kuzan, who would be the most useful of the Admirals to send even if they were ready in case only Vice-Admirals accompanied him to Dressrosa, was defeated either by Doflamingo or by Sugar, he could see why the man had such a perfect reputation as a Marine, and why nothing ever went wrong with his missions.

And to think that Sengoku was supposedly the best strategist the Marines had. He never wanted to try his mind against the man, didn’t want to try it against Sakazuki either.

“You said you didn’t want him sent to Impel Down.” Said Law as their discussion slowed down. “And you aren’t planning to kill him either.”

“I want him alive.” Answered Sakazuki. “I see a few ways to do that while keeping him out of Impel Down and the Tenryuubito’s grasp. Which one would be the most interesting for you ?”

~~One Piece~~

Law's giddy smile when he returned to the Polar Tang was almost more frightening than his stoic face when he had left. Shachi and Penguin shared a look, before looking back worriedly at their captain’s back as the man walked past them.

“It seems like it went right.” Said Bepo, and they turned to face him incredulously. Couldn’t the bear see how scary the idea of Law scheming with Akainu of all people was ?


	13. From Banaro With Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of people care about Ace. Some, like Whitebeard, knew that he was alive quickly after his fight against Blackbeard. Others get their information from the newspaper.

_The morning after the fight on Banaro_

The inhabitants barely had the time the recuperate from their shock of seeing powerhouses like Fire Fist and Akainu before Marco landed in his full glory, flaming blue feathers glinting in the morning light.

He totally ignored the rebuilding civilians around him and walked straight toward one of the houses further away in the town, one of the rare ones still standing. A man walked out of it just as he neared the door, and froze for a second when he saw him.

“Uh. You’re… You’re Marco the Phoenix, right ?” He asked hesitantly.

“I am. You’re the one I heard on the Den Den Mushi-yoi, when Ace could no longer talk ?”

“Yeah, that’s me. He’s waiting for you inside. Uh...” He hesitated when Marco started immediately to walk toward the door, but started talking again at Marco’s unimpressed look. “Try not to make him talk too much ? I mean, his throat really took a beating, and he didn’t help his healing by trying to talk as soon as he woke up…”

“Don’t worry about it-yoi.” Marco took another step forward, and he finally took the hint and backed out of the entrance.

Ace’s throat looked _bad_. There were clear finger marks on his neck, the skin already having taken a purple-ish tint.

“Hey, Ace.” He said, a true smile appearing on his face. Despite his sorry state, it was good to see his friend, Ace having left the Moby Dick almost three months before. “You don’t look too good-yoi.” It was worrying to see him like this, Ace being one of the fastest healers in the crew. He had called him more than twelve hours ago, and given the rate of Ace’s healing he didn’t want to guess how the bruise had looked earlier.

Ace gave a self-deprecating smile and shrugged, before he grimaced slightly as the movement pulled on the skin of his throat. “Marco.” He whispered, his voice tight.

“Hey, don’t force yourself to speak-yoi. You can write what you need to tell me. Can you tell me what happened ?”

He held out a notebook and a pencil, and sit next to Ace to read over his shoulder as he wrote.

‘Fought Teach. I don’t know what Devil Fruit he had but he was able to bypass my logia.’

“Really ? I never heard of something like that… Haruta tried to look into an Encyclopedia but nobody could remember what the Devil Fruit looked like precisely enough to find a match-yoi.”

‘Wasn’t haki.’ Wrote Ace. ‘The Marines intervened.’ Marco tensed at that, taking once again with a critical eye his injuries.

“Who was it ?”

‘Akainu, Doberman, Onigumo.’

“How are you still alive-yoi ?” Wondered Marco, and startled as Ace flinched violently next to him.

‘I think they planned to kill me and make it look like Teach did. Akainu fought me, he’s the one who let these marks. He said he let me live because-’ He stopped writing at that, and started to bite his bottom lip in stress as he looked at Marco through his hair.

“Because of what, Ace ?” Asked quietly Marco.

‘I only told Pops and he told me he accepted it and that everyone on the crew would too but I was afraid to tell you I’m sorry-’ He started to write erratically, before Marco took his hand, forcing it to still.

“Ace, calm down-yoi. Whatever it is, you know I’ll never judge you.”

“My father.” Said Ace, his voice low. Marco frowned slightly at hearing him, but kept his eyes trained on him, his expression open. “Is Gol D. Roger.”

Marco kept watching him for a second, before he understood that _this_ was Ace’s big news that he was afraid to tell him.

“Uh, ok ?” He blinked a few times, and watched as Ace’s expression shifted from unease to surprise. “Well, good for you, I guess-yoi. What does this have to do with anything ?”

“You don’t care ?” Ace’s voice had risen slightly in shock, and his body immediately made him pay, his frame shaking with the violent coughing fit he had. Marco held him through it, one hand resting lightly on his back.

“Don’t talk Ace, please.” He said as soon as Ace calmed. “And no, I don’t care-yoi. I met Roger, you know. He was overconfident as a rookie, too powerful for his own good, but he wasn’t a bad man.”

Ace looked at him in disbelief. Luckily his eyes were already teary from coughing so much, because it hid the way he wanted to cry at being accepted so easily by yet another member of his family.

‘Akainu knows’ He wrote, not wanting to get distracted from the important topic. ‘He told me that was why he let me live’

“ Admiral ‘The only good pirate is a dead one’ Akainu ?” Asked Marco in shock.

Ace nodded, a lost air on his face. ‘I don’t know why’

“I’ll fly you back to the Moby Dick-yoi. We’ll talk about what to do with Pops, okay ? But you’ll probably need to stay hidden for a time, to give Haruta and the rest of our intelligence division time to find how he found out this information.”

~~One Piece~~

_A few days after the Moria’s defeat on Thriller Bark._

“Ah, the NewsCoo is here.” Called out Sanji from his position on Sunny’s crow nest.

He dropped down on the deck, landing softly next to Nami as the redhead finished haggling with the NewsCoo about the cost of the newspaper.

“I swear they keep raising their prices.” She sighed.

Sanji wisely said nothing, well aware of her relationship with money. He was inclined to agree with everything she said anyway.

“Anything interesting ?” He asked idly.

“They are still talking about Enies Lobby.” She answered. “We have been disconnected from the outside since we reached Thriller Bark, it’s nice to finally-” Her voice trailed off as she turned the page.

“Oh god.” She whispered, a hand coming to her mouth in shock.

“What is it ?” He asked worriedly. Robin seemed to have sensed that something was wrong, the archeologist rising from her transat and making her way over.

“I need to- Luffy…” She stammered.

Robin slowly took the newspaper out of her hands, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the news.

“Portgas D. Ace is dead.” She murmured.

Sanji took a step back at that. “What- how the fuck- no !”

“I need to tell Luffy.” Said Nami.

“Tell me what ?” Asked the captain as he suddenly appeared at their side. His grin faded out when he saw their faces. “Nami ?”

“Luffy !” She shouted in shock. “I’m… I’m sorry.” She said, hesitantly. “Ace is dead.”

Luffy’s face went scarily blank. He blinked slowly at her, before his eyes turned to the paper.

“No he’s not.” He said firmly.

By now, everyone on the Sunny had sensed that something was happening, and they were all coming closer.

“They’re saying he fought against the man that had killed Whitebeard’s Fourth Commander.” Said softly Robin.

“Ace is not dead.” Repeated Luffy, ignoring Usopp’s gasp of shock at the proclamation. His hand went to the straw hat hanging around his neck, slowly getting out a piece of paper.

“Lola said that the burning indicated he was hurt, and that it would get smaller the closer to death he is.” He said, holding out the Vivre Card for all to see. The paper was still burning, just like it had been when they had last seen it on Thriller Bark, but the piece seemed bigger than last time. “Ace isn’t dead.” He said for the third time.

Nami clutched her heart, falling against the railing.

“I thought…” She turned lost eyes to Robin who had gone back to read the paper, her face no longer white in shock.

“They seem pretty sure that he died. There are witnesses to his battle against Blackbeard, and even the Marines- oh.” She looked up at the crew that was intently listening to her. “The duel happened on Banaro Island.”

“Isn’t that where Akainu said he would go ?” Asked Ussop.

“Yes it is.” She reread the article, trying to understand what really happened.

“He said he would go there to face a dangerous criminal.” Remembered Zoro.

“Blackbeard had been on Banaro Island for days.” Said Robin. “The man killed a Whitebeard commander, and from what I’m reading his fight against Ace was close.”

“But Ace still survived.” Said Sanji.

“There was a book mentioning the Vivre Cards in the stack we stole from Thriller Bark. They never lie, Ace is alive.” Confirmed Robin.

“Why would they lie about this ?” Asked Chopper.

“And why hadn’t Whitebeard set the record straight ?” Added Franky.

“We’ll ask Ace once we reach the New World and find him again.” Decided Luffy. From Robin’s pensive face, she would keep thinking about it, but she nodded at her captain's orders.

~~One Piece~~

_Sometime after the destruction of Enies Lobby_

“... can’t believe he died.”

“Hmm ?” Said Sabo, his head coming up from his meal to see a few revolutionaries leaning over a newspaper.

“Didn’t you hear the news ?” Asked one of the men.

“I couldn’t keep up with the news while I was out.” As usual, not giving more precision on why exactly he hadn’t seen a newspaper in weeks. “The last thing I’ve seen was about Crocodile trying to take over Alabasta, and I’ve only seen the front page about that.”

“Wow, you’ve missed a few things. They’re saying a Marine Captain managed to stop Crocodile -which is bullshit if you ask me, he is a New World veteran. But no, I was talking about Fire Fist. Apparently, he died fighting this other pirate, Blackbeard, who had killed another of Whitebeard’s commanders before.”

Sabo felt something clench inside of him. “Fire Fist…” He muttered, his brow furrowed in thought.

“The Marines were here, apprehended the rest of Blackbeard’s crew. Admiral Akainu fucking emptied Enies Lobby for this -which is funny by the way, you need to see the pictures of what happened to Enies Lobby- as if intervening in a fight between pirates was the most important thing he could do with this kind of manpower. And at the same time, Randamu kingdom is in the middle of a civil war because of the increasing taxes imposed by the nobles and nobody is caring enough to act.”

“We all know who the Marines would have sided with anyway if they went there. I’d rather he stay out of those islands trying to overthrow nobility, it gives us more chances to act.” Countered another revolutionary.

“And Fire Fist died ?” Asked Sabo, refocusing them before they could go on an anti-nobility rant. Those could last for hours.

“Hmhm, he did.” Said the man, holding the newspaper up for him to see.

Sabo frowned at the picture showing Fire Fist’s wanted poster. He had probably seen it before in passing, it was always a good idea to keep an eye out on the most famous pirates, but somehow he felt that this was important.

Without thinking about it, he rose from his chair and walked toward the other revolutionaries, grabbing the paper from his hand.

“Portgas D. Ace…” He murmured, analyzing the picture. He had never crossed paths with the Whitebeard Pirates, but there was something familiar in the man.

Something in the curve of his smirk, in the red freckles that stood out against his skin even in the picture.

He suddenly had a flash, the same face but younger, grinning determinedly at him.

_I’ll become a great pirate ! I’m gonna make sure the whole world knows my name !_

“Ace…” He whispered again. He could distantly hear people talking around him, asking him if he was okay, but he couldn’t focus on that.

Another face flashed through his mind, this one younger, happy, with a smile too wide.

_No matter what we are, or what we do, our bond will never break… Starting today, we’re brothers !_

Oh. By the seas, Ace. Ace, Luffy, he couldn’t believe he had forgotten. Gramps, Dadan, the bandits, his blood family, High Town… The nobles ordering the fire of the Grey Terminal, his escape only to get shot down by the Tenryuubito.

A migraine was starting to rise, but he ignored it, elated at finally remembering his life.

He had brothers, two brothers-

His eyes fell back on the article, and his knees gave out under him.

~~One Piece~~

_Some time after Law and Sakazuki’s first meeting._

Sengoku had finally decided that it was safe enough for Sakazuki to go back into the New World, thinking that since Whitebeard hadn’t made a move, the Yonko believed that Blackbeard really had killed Fire Fist.

Which was why a couple of hours after Sakazuki set foot on the first island they had planned to stop at, the Moby Dick appeared on the horizon.

"I don't want to engage." Ordered Sakazuki. "Whitebeard shouldn't attack me either. I'm going to talk to him, alone." Given the face of the Marines standing in front of him on the warship’s deck, no-one liked this order, but they were too smart to protest. "The civilians had been warned to stay away from where the Whitebeards will land. If a fight breaks out, I want the island to be evacuated as soon as possible."

He turned his back to them, aware that the words "Justice" on his back would remind them of what they fought for, and stayed immobile for a few seconds for his coat to flutter in the wind before jumping from the warship onto the ground.

It took less than twenty minutes for the Moby Dick to reach the coast he was standing on.

Whitebeard jumped down from the figurehead, showing at least a modicum of respect by not staying on his ship but coming down to his level.

Sakazuki stared at him, arms loosely crossed on his chest. He kept his posture non-threatening, but most importantly, he didn’t look threatened by the display of force in front of him. Half of the commanders were on the Moby Dick, staring down at him.

“Akainu.” Grumbled Whitebeard.

Sakazuki just stared silently at him, the silence stretching around them. Some of the lower crew members started to fidget slightly. He finally raised an eyebrow, silently demanding him to say what he had come here to say.

Marco the Phoenix bristled at the slight, but Whitebeard only let out a low chuckle where no trace of amusement could be found.

“Brat. We need to talk.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you.” He answered, this time all of the commanders getting insulted on the behalf of their captain.

“There is a lot I have to say. If not to you, I can turn toward the World Government.” Threatened Whitebeard.

“You’re not the one with an advantage here.” He said calmly, keeping the smugness contained to a maximum. He hated Whitebeard, hated how long it had taken for him to heal from his wounds after Marineford. Knowing that he was in a position of power over the man made him feel good. Almost as much as he had when Squardo had stabbed his precious father. “I’m ready to deal with whatever you say to the Marines. You, however…” His eyes roamed over the Moby Dick where hundreds of pirates were standing in a show of strength. 

“You thought that taking so many people with you to this meeting was a good idea.” He continued. “But you’re only giving me the opportunity to reveal some of the things you want to keep hidden. I’m sure none of them ever had a reason to dig into Fire Fist’s past, but if I were to reveal some of his connecti-” The conqueror’s haki slammed into him, strong enough to steal his voice. The sand cracked under his feet, three falling behind his back.

This was a controlled burst of haki directed at him by the strongest man in the world, and he couldn’t do anything other than clench his jaw and _will_ his body not to falter. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, but it was almost immediately evaporated by his high body heat, his power thrumming under his skin. Whitebeard was staring at him and he stared back, not for a second looking away, and he knew the man could see in his eyes the sheer hatred he had for him and his crew.

The pressure suddenly disappeared and it took him a second to unclench his jaw. 

“I’m not interested in the Marines going to war with the Whitebeard pirates.” He said smoothly, no trace of what he had just endured to be heard in his voice. “But I’m fully prepared to reveal everything I know to the World Government if I feel it’s needed.”

He let that hang out between them, and they both knew how relentless the World Government would be if they discovered Ace’s real name. They wouldn’t hesitate to order a fight against the Whitebeards, and neither wanted that. No one would be able to win a war like that.

“Then there is nothing else for us to talk about.” Said Whitebeard, and Sakazuki let him have the last word, knowing that the man wouldn’t let himself look weak in front of his crew. He turned on his wheels, not bothering to answer, and headed to where the warship was waiting without a glance back.

His fists clenched in anger as soon as he left the pirate’s sight, and he let out a deep breath, suddenly feeling the after-effects of the Conqueror’s haki which almost made him miss a step. He knew the Whitebeards were still following him with their haki, so he forced himself to keep walking forward until he was somewhere safer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last part to place sometime between Law and Sakazuki’s meeting and Dressrosa, I don’t think there’s somewhere better to put this chapter.  
> Franky/the Galley La somehow built the Sunny real quick, so the Straw Hats didn't have to stay days on Water 7 and Thriller Bark happened quicker than in canon (I needed Luffy to know about the Vivre Card so it all work out trust me)


	14. Operation : Dressrosa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan to get rid of Doflamingo finally starts.

“I have received… Worrying intel about Donquixote Doflamingo breaking his immunity agreement with the World Government.” Said Sengoku as soon as Sakazuki closed the door of his office behind him.

“How reliable is it ? The Gorosei won’t allow us to investigate him lightly.” Said Sakazuki.

“It comes from our newest Shichibukai.” Answered Sengoku. The Fleet Admiral knew about Law’s grudge against Doflamingo since Rosinante had gotten him out of the man’s crew, and he wasn’t surprised that Law hadn’t waited long after joining the Shichibukai before trying to attack him. Still, these accusations seemed well-founded, and as a Shichibukai Law’s words had to be trusted, to an extent, about pirates affairs.

“I want to send an Admiral to investigate. If a fight breaks out between Law and Doflamingo, or if we are forced to arrest one of them, I want to make sure they won’t have the chance to escape. We can’t let people start doubting our control over the Shichibukai, not after Crocodile was taken down by a pirate.” Continued Sengoku.

“Hmm. Kuzan would be more suited for this.” Said Sakazuki.

“Kuzan leaves tomorrow for Doerena Kingdom.” Countered Sengoku.

While Doerena had its own problem, it was nothing compared to going to Dressrosa to arrest their beloved king. Kuzan wouldn’t want to trade their mission.

“He’s willing to swap.” _Or he will be._

Sengoku only raised an eyebrow at him. “If he comes before the end of the day to tell me he’s going to Dressrosa then I’ll accept it.” Clearly not believing that Sakazuki would accomplish it.

He underestimated how much blackmail the three admirals had on each other to be used on things like this.

~~One Piece~~

“Remember Secon Island ?” Asked Sakazuki as he entered Kuzan’s office. The man seemed to be working for once, a pen swirling slowly in his fingers and a pensive expression on his face as he looked at his paperwork. He looked at Sakazuki with a perfect poker face, as if he didn’t instantly know what he was talking about.

“You, me, Borsalino.” Continued Sakazuki. “Young Commanders, and you were the one in charge of when the warship would leave. There was this girl… A redhead, right ? And you forgot both Borsalino and me in your haste to get laid. We stayed a week there, before someone remembered our existence.”

“You became friends thanks to this.” Protested weakly Kuzan.

“We were friendly by the second day.”

Kuzan sighed. “This happened decades ago. I’m sure it can be forgotten.”

He didn’t know why they even bothered to do this. If Kuzan really didn’t want to go, he had his own light blackmail to use to make him back off. It mostly was so they could act like they weren’t doing each other favors.

Sengoku looked shocked when less than half an hour after Sakazuki left his office, Kuzan came to inform him he wanted to go to Dressrosa.

~~One Piece~~

Being in a meeting with an Admiral and three Vice Admirals in a marine warship wasn’t something Law had ever planned to do. His crew was safely a few islands away, since they had refused to go to Zou without him, not after they had spent stress-filled hours while he was meeting with Akainu. Now that he was going to face Doflamingo, they didn’t want to be days away from him.

He was still alone with the three officers though. Aokiji acted laid back, but you could tell he was paying attention to everything that happened around him. Onigumo was permanently frowning, deeply unhappy with his presence here -one of the followers of Absolute Justice from what he had gathered, who would have preferred to have him dead than on the warship. Momonga was as usual serious, but seemed ready to listen to him. Bastille was harder to read since his face was hidden behind a mask, but the man seemed aware but relaxed, not seeming to care that a pirate was in the meeting room with him.

“There’s one more thing you should be aware of.” Said Law. “There is one member of the Donquixote Family that is kept well hidden, since she might have the most powerful Devil Fruit of them all. Her name is Sugar.” He put on the table where they were sitting a brief overview of her powers.

“I’ve never heard of a Devil Fruit like that.” Said Onigumo as he finished reading. Kuzan sat up straighter, leaning forward to read the file.

“That’s the point, yes.” Said dryly Law, earning a glare from the Vice-Admiral which he ignored.

“How did you know about her ?” Asked Momonga, showing once again why he had the reputation of being one of the sharpest Vice Admirals. Sugar was, after all, the best-kept secret of Doflamingo’s crew.

Law just smirked at him, not saying anything.

“She has made people disappear before, hm ?” Asked Kuzan.

“Everyone that troubles Doflamingo’s business and that he doesn’t kill, yes. There are Marines included.”

“We wouldn’t have forgotten about them if we had sent Marines there-dara.” Countered Bastille.

“So you’re telling me that you never sent anyone ? Doflamingo has one of the highest bounty entering the Grand Line, and then he rushed through it, got offered the position of Shichibukai despite never indicating he was willing to work for the World Government or at least against other pirates. Less than a month after becoming a Shichibukai, he suddenly took control of Dressrosa and none of you ever questioned it ?” He let the silence speak for itself for a few seconds.

“I might not think highly of the World Government or the Marines in general,” the Vices Admiral bristled at that, while Aokiji didn’t react and kept watching him, “but there is bound to be at least someone in your whole organization that is a little suspicious of Doflamingo’s actions.”

“He’s right.” Said Kuzan, saying loudly what everyone was thinking. “I can’t remember anyone being sent to infiltrate Dressrosa, but it must have happened. We need to be careful of her.”

“It would be disastrous if she got her hands on one of us-dara.” Agreed Bastille.

“We need to plan against her powers.” Added Momonga.

“I’ve let myself a message.” Said Law, pulling a piece of paper out of a pocket inside his jacket. “Telling myself the important part : I’m here to unveil Doflamingo’s crimes, there are an Admiral and three Vice Admirals with me. We might catch Doflamingo only for Sugar to escape, so that way the marines will know to look for you.”

Momonga swallowed the “smart” that wanted to escape him. He wouldn’t praise a pirate, but he could recognize that this way, they wouldn’t forget about each other.

“Anything else to add ? Something that would have been good to know before leaving Marineford ?” Said Onigumo, a scowl on his lips.

“You’re good to go.” Smirked Law, as if he was allowing them to take their leave.

Bastille lightly tapped the hilt of his sword against Onigumo’s shoulder, silently reminding him not to react to Law’s taunts, as he rose to his feet.

~~One Piece~~

Now that he knew that Doflamingo had a place in Dressrosa where the majority of the weapon trade happened, it hadn’t been hard for Law to find the entrance of the underground trade port.

He sneaked easily past the first guards, but the number of Doflamingo’s men moving inside made it harder for him to get further inside. He contemplated using his powers, but there was no doubt that it would be noticed. One of the henchmen walked next to where he was hidden, and a quick glance confirmed that nobody was looking at him. He quickly sneaked behind his back, grabbed his neck with his arm, and started to choke him. The man struggled for a few seconds before fainting, and Law quickly removed his clothes and traded his own jacket for the man’s, as well as hiding his face behind a hat and dark glasses. 

Now able to move forward, he started to walk again, infiltrating himself deeper into the lair. There were a lot of people moving around, mostly toys carrying boxes up to a ship docked near him. He deftly picked up a toy and hid him in an empty barrel, opening the box it had been carrying. Just as he had thought, the box was full of weapons. The guns glistened in the low light, and after a second of hesitation he picked up one. He hadn’t shot a gun in a long time, much more used to fighting with his powers and his nodachi, but it wouldn’t hurt to have one more weapon. There was always a risk of running into Doflamingo here, and the marines were waiting for his signal before they stormed the underground lair, if he got defeated too fast and didn't have the time to contact them then he would be alone.

There were train tracks on the floor, and he followed them loosely, making sure to walk quick enough that he looked busy but not so fast that he would attract attention. He reached a round building, its red color attracting attention. He could see some movement behind the windows, and given its position could guess that it acted as an outpost of some sort. He idly wondered what the huge tubes coming into the building served at, but decided that the marines could be the one to find out. 

He turned on himself, wondering where he could find the proof that Doflamingo was indeed involved with the weapon trade. The fact that it happened in his country and the men doing the trades were wearing his symbol should be enough, but he didn’t want to risk it and preferred to find some documentation directly involving Doflamingo, or at the very least some of his top officers.

Speaking of top officers. His barely developed observation haki warned him last second of an incoming attack, and he jumped back just in time to avoid being hit by a wave of mucus.

“Nyeheheh… I would recognize that face everywhere.”

Busted.

“Trebol.” Acknowledged Law, not seeing the point in acting as if he hadn’t been caught. And his disguise had been so good.

“Finally came back to your family ?” Asked the executive.

“You assholes never were my family.” Hissed Law, making a sharp move with his right hand to seize the gun and point it toward Trebol. Despite not seeing his eyes behind the glasses, he knew that the officer had focused entirely on the gun for a fraction of a second before shooting it out of his hand with mucus. Just enough time to activate the Den Den Mushi connected to the Marine warship with his other hand.

Trebol attacked once again, Law activating his armament haki just in time for the mucus not to stick to him. He called a Room and started taunting Trebol, knowing that the call was being recorded on the other side.

“It’s a nice operation you got there, how did you manage to sneak it past Doflamingo ? I don’t think the bastard had any interest in anything other than killing his blood family or taking over kingdoms.”

“Don’t you dare insult Doffy !” Shouted Trebol, his attack coming quicker and Law started to struggle to deflect in time. “He is the true mind beyond this ! Haven't you heard about Joker ? His empire is wide and powerful, and you're nothing compared to him.”

He swirled his scepter between his hands, bringing it sharply against Law’s nodachi and creating mucus at the same time on the floor. Law was forced to stay immobile and lock his muscles unless he wanted Kikoku to be wrenched from his grasp, but it only allowed Trebol to stick his legs to the ground.

Law called out “ **Shambles** ” as he switched with one of the henchmen that had stopped to watch the fight. Most of the mucus trapping him was left behind in the move, but some stayed stuck to his clothes, and Trebol didn’t waste time in moving it so it started to trap Law once again, this time sticking Law’s leg together.

Law fell to the ground with a curse, rolling on himself to avoid the next attack before he Shambled himself once again further away.

“Now would be a good time to come.” He panted, cringing when the container he was hiding behind was suddenly thrown into the air by Trebol’s powers.

“Got you !” He shouted as he pinned Law against the floor, making sure he couldn’t move his hands. One of the henchmen grabbed his wrist and fuck, that was seastone cuffs- before he could react, the cuffs snapped around his wrist and he snarled as he felt his strength desert him.

Trebol didn’t waste time in dragging him inside the red building he had seen earlier, taunting him in the process. He was giving them everything the marines needed to justify the operation, and he just needed to get free to go fight Doflamingo now. He didn’t bother pushing him to talk further, silently wondering how long he had to wait before the marines did their job and came for him. 

The answer was _not long_. Trebol barely had the time to secure him to a chair and get a Den Den Mushi out, probably to call his captain, when the door exploded behind him and ice covered the entire room, only leaving a circle around Law unfrozen.

Trebol was frozen in place and Onigumo tipped him over, shattering him in the process, as soon as he entered the room.

“You took your time.” Said Law.

“You talk a lot for someone trapped in sea stone.” Answered Onigumo. Law glared at him, especially when the Vice-Admiral dangled a key in front of him for a few seconds.

“We still need to catch Doflamingo.” Said Momonga, snatching the key from Onigumo’s fingers. “Trebol linking him to Joker is enough for us to act. There should be some files in there implicating him further.” He freed Law from the cuffs, the Shichibukai flexing his fingers a few times.

“Spread out, we need to find something incriminating before Doflamingo becomes aware that something is wrong and take steps to destroy the evidence.” Ordered Bastille, turning toward the marines accompanying them.

Law watched them leave the building, sparing a glance at Trebol’s broken body on the floor. He couldn’t say he felt sad about his death, he hated every one of the officers, and would gladly kill them all. The only one they wanted to keep alive was Doflamingo.

He looked up, remembering that there were a few floors on the building he was in, and opened every door to find the stairs. What he found upstairs was an empty room, with the tubes he had seen earlier coming into it. They were big enough for a human to fit through, even the bigger ones like Bastille. He passed his head through, trying to see if he could see where it led, when he felt a small hand land on his leg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m studying for my finals and will have them next week, so I’m posting this chapter now and will probably post the next one on Monday (because it ends on a teaser and it isn’t nice). The rhythm might slow down for a few weeks as the new semester starts and I try to focus on school. I still have a few chapters ready in advance but I need to proofread etc, so I will continue to post, just slower.


	15. ‘Don’t Forget About Sugar’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to deal with the fact that the person who told you about memory manipulation got erased from your mind.

Momonga was leading a battalion of Marines inside the underground trade port, when a voice called his name.

“Vice-Admiral Momonga !” Said loudly one of the marines, jogging toward him holding a chest in his arms. “We have found this in one of the buildings, but we can’t open it.”

Momonga held out his hand for the man to give him the chest, and in doing so felt something hard in his sleeve. His brow furrowed as he absentmindedly snapped the chest’s lock with a haki covered hand. As soon as the marine left, he retreated to behind a container, and rolled up the sleeve of his marine coat. There was a folded piece of paper here which he opened. It was an article from the World Economy Newspaper, talking about the newest Shichibukai Trafalgar Law.

_What the…_ He wondered. There hadn’t been a new Shichibukai since Crocodile imprisonment. It was a problem, since Moria had turned out to be weaker than expected and they couldn’t replace him while there was still an open position. He turned the paper, and saw his own writing.

> _One of the members of the Donquixote had the power to alter memories._  
>  You’re going after Doflamingo because he is suspected of being a weapon dealer under the alias Joker.  
> You’re here with Admiral Kuzan, Vice Admirals Onigumo and Bastille as well as the Shichibukai Trafalgar Law.  
> If you have forgotten any of those people, it means that they have been impacted by Sugar’s powers. 

It definitely was his own handwriting, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember anyone named Trafalgar Law. Turning the paper once again to read the article, he saw that Law had been one of the Eleven Supernovas - _weren’t they the Ten Supernovas ?_ \- and had offered the hearts of one hundred pirates to get the position.

There was definitely something wrong going on.

He started to run toward where he had last seen Aokiji, coming to a halt in front of the Admiral.

“Kuzan !” He gasped. “There is someone in Donquixote’s crew able to modify memories.”

“What ?”

He held out the paper for Kuzan to see. “It seems we have been warned about her existence. I’ve written myself a note but I can’t remember doing that, saying that I was in Dressrosa with you, Momonga… Bastille…”

Kuzan blinked at him. “Bastille ?”

“Vice Admiral Bastille.” Answered Momonga faintly. “I’ve read this note less than five minutes ago, and I came here to tell you I couldn’t remember anyone named Trafalgar Law. He’s supposed to be the newest Shichibukai.” He explained. “I didn’t notice anything wrong with the name Bastille, but now I don’t know who he is.”

“So there is an enemy currently attacking our men.” Said Kuzan. “Making us forget about them. We need to call everyone back, make a headcount.”

“There is supposed to be 3 Vices and one Admiral.” Said Momonga, with a quick glance at the paper to make sure he hadn't forgotten anyone else. “I probably took care of the logistics of this operation, either me or this Bastille guy. If I did, there should be 160 marines with us, divided into eight groups.”

A quick call on the Den Den Mushi confirmed the presence of only 140 marines, and nobody had noticed anything weird with that number.

“Bastille’s group must have been hit by the Devil Fruit at the same time as him.” Said Kuzan. “Everyone, comes back near the entrance of the underground port.” He ordered on the Den Den Mushi, before turning toward Momonga. “We need a new strategy. We have no idea who this enemy is or how their power works.”

~~One Piece~~

“Sir ?” Asked the Marines as soon as Kuzan hanged off.

“We’re going back to the entrance.” Ordered Onigumo. “Stay on your guard, something is going on.” He might not be close to Kuzan, but he had worked with him enough to know how he sounded when he was worried, and something was making him sound wary. Coupled with the headcount and the tense silence that had followed, he could guess that whatever was happening was grave.

“There’s a child approaching.” Warned one of the marines.

“What is she doing here ?” Wondered another.

Onigumo’s hand clenched on the hilt of his saber. His instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong. The girl was watching them with wide eyes, a teddy bear clutched in one of her hands and a bear-like hoodie on her head. She seemed cute and harmless. Too cute and harmless.

“Stay back.” He ordered, his tone harsh. The marines that had relaxed next to him jerked at the sound, the one that had started to get closer to the girl stopping in his tracks.

The girl blinked at him, her eyes widening even further as she adopted a scared look on her face. Now that he thought something was wrong, he could see the calculating glint in her eyes. She kept walking slowly but surely toward him, her hand bringing the teddy bear to her chest.

He pulled out his saber, keeping it pointed toward the ground but the threat was clear. Her expression tightened slightly as she understood that her act wouldn’t work on him. But he wouldn’t hurt her, she was sure, no Marine would hurt a kid like her. She kept walking, making sure to stay close to the marine that had started to walk toward her but had stopped. The other Marines looked undecided, some having their hand on their weapon but a conflicted look on their face as they looked between her and their commander. She only needed to touch him, and they would forget his suspicion and trust her again.

She slowly held out her hand toward him as if she was looking for comfort, and got stricken down by a saber.

She lost consciousness as soon as his attack hit, the wound just shallow enough that she didn’t die immediately.

The marines around Onigumo started to protest in shock, when suddenly the toys around them transformed into humans.

Sugar. Her name was Sugar, Law had warned them about her. Law, fuck, Bastille, he couldn’t believe he had forgotten a Vice Admiral just like that.

He grabbed his Den Den Mushi and called Bastille, hearing his call connect at the same time as Kuzan’s call did.

“Bastille.” Said Kuzan, his worry clearly heard in his voice. “Are you okay ?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine-dara. I saw her coming too late and didn’t have the time to react.” He hadn’t wanted to react violently when he had seen how young she looked, which had slowed his response time just enough for her to touch him. “Trafalgar Law is with me, she has sent both of us to some sort of dump, under the port. There are a lot of other people with us, former toys.”

“A lot of broken toys too.” Added Law, Bastille leaning forward to let him talk into the receiver. “You might want to wait before sending any marine here, a lot of the people here seem to be pirates, and they won’t be too happy to be freed by you.” Already, some people were turning toward the ones wearing marines uniforms, who were trying to regroup around Bastille.

“There are marines too.” Said Bastille. “I don’t want them to stay locked here for longer than necessary-dara. Either Onigumo or Momonga would be enough to control the people here with me, I can’t recognize anyone as having a huge bounty but it’s still a lot of people.”

“I’m going after Doflamingo.” Said Kuzan. Not a second after, the soft glow of a Room encompassed him, and Law appeared at his side.

“Law just left.” Informed them Bastille.

“Arara. I can see that.” Answered Kuzan.

“Couldn’t you take the marines with you.” Grumbled Onigumo on the other end of the Den Den, but he was ignored.

“ _I’m_ fighting Doflamingo.” Said Law.

“Sure, you can try.” Agreed Kuzan. “I’ll come in five minutes after you to recuperate your lifeless body.”

“None of you would have any idea of what is really happening here if it wasn’t for me. I have the right to participate in this fight.” Glowered Law.

“My primary objective is stopping Doflamingo. If you want to be there, good for you, but I won’t risk it to stop your suicidal tendencies. Having Doflamingo escape would cause much more paperwork than your death.”

Law only scowled more, and with a flick of his fingers, Shambled them both outside, Kuzan letting him use his powers on him freely, well aware that he could immobilize him in a second if Law tried anything unfriendly.

They landed in the middle of a street, barely earning a glance from the citizens that were too busy suddenly remembering their friends and family to care about people appearing out of thin air.

“I’d rather not use my powers to get us both to where Doflamingo is.” Said Law.

“He is still in the castle at the top of the hill.” Informed him Kuzan, his haki encompassing the whole island. “I’d rather fight him there than down here, less chance of someone getting harmed by accident. I can create an ice bridge to get us there.

“We’re risking him attacking us while we’re moving.” Frowned Law.

“I’ll feel him move before he can get too close.” Said uncaringly Kuzan. “If he attacks me I can just jump down, I won’t get hurt.”

“Not all of us are Logias.” Said Law as Kuzan created a path made of ice, the path getting longer as they started to run on it.

“It’s not my problem. You could just not come.”

“Like hell.” Muttered Law

Surprisingly, they reached the castle without any interruption. They met Doflamingo there, the man seeming to have been waiting for them. He had a blank face on, a far cry from his usually too big expressions.

“You wouldn’t be acting against a member of the Shichibukai without the approval of the Gorosei, Admiral Aokiji ?” He asked when they got near.

“As an Admiral, I have the right to demote you from your Shichibukai position and to revoke the privileges associated with it as long as I have seen proof of you breaking the agreement that has been reached when you got the position. I’m sure the testimony of the hundreds of Marines that had seen you get involved with the weapon trade will be enough for the Gorosei.” Kuzan had said the first part like he was reciting from a text and couldn’t care less about it.

The veins on Doflamingo’s forehead twitched in annoyance.

“I wasn’t expecting this of you, Law.” He stated. “I knew when you joined the Shichibukai that you would do something, but involving the Marines ? I didn’t know you had it in you, not with how much you hate them.”

“I just based my strategy on Corazon. He too was a Marine, remember ?” His taunt didn’t go unanswered, Doflamingo’s face twisting in rage.

“I remember what I did that day, yes. Should I do a demonstration for the one that wasn’t here ?” He said with a tilt of his head toward Kuzan, before opening his arms wide. Strings started to shot out of each finger, rising high into the sky before falling in a cascade around them, forming a circle. Law blanched as he recognized the attack.

“Remember my birdcage, Law ?” Asked Doflamingo.

“It wasn’t very effective.” Said Law, forcing his mind to think fast to avoid panicking. “I escaped, didn’t I ?”

“We’ll see how you manage this time.” His hands clenched into fists, and even from their position in the middle of the cage, they could hear the ground creak as the strings started to move.

“You won’t have long before everyone in this country dies. I’m not letting you stop me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, a fight !  
> I probably will go for one chapter a week for the next two or three weeks. Then I'll see if I go back to two per week.


	16. Fight At The King’s Plateau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuzan and Law are facing Doflamingo, but the threat of the birdcage is forcing them to act fast.

As soon as Doflamingo declared his intent to kill everyone in Dressrosa, Kuzan attacked. With a wave of his hand, he created half a dozen spears and sent them toward Doflamingo. The blond easily avoided them, using his strings to move up in the air, and Law drew Kikoku and launched himself after him.

The distraction he needed done, Kuzan grabbed his Den Den Mushi, instantly connecting him to the Vice Admirals.

“What is Doflamingo doing ?” Asked harshly Onigumo.

“He plans to kill everyone in Dressrosa.” Answered Kuzan, tilting his head to avoid a string that tried to decapitate him. Law was holding his own against Doflamingo for now, but the young adult had to Shamble himself away every few seconds as Doflamingo attacked him with more and more power behind each attack.

“The strings are unbreakable, we’re trapped here-dara.” Informed them Bastille.

“Get everyone away from the cage.” Ordered Kuzan. “Most of Doflamingo’s men are still free, you need to protect the civilians and reunite them somewhere close to the center of the island.”

“We’ve finished with the evacuation of the underground heap where most of the toys were.” Said Bastille. “We’re free to move everyone to somewhere safer-dara.”

“I’ll coordinate the evacuation.” Decided Momonga. “You and Onigumo make sure that none of Doflamingo’s men attack us. I don’t like how fast the cage is moving, we probably won’t have long before the first civilians get hurt.”

“I’ll hurry with Doflamingo.” Agreed Kuzan before hanging up. Now that he was sure that the Vice Admirals would take care of the details downstairs, he could focus entirely on bringing Doflamingo down.

He attacked once again, quickly making spears appear, this time spreading them out to force Doflamingo to get away if he wanted to avoid getting hit, giving Law a few seconds to breath.

Doflamingo however could attack from far away, and didn’t waste time sending string after string at Kuzan and Law, each attack coming from a different direction. Kuzan easily managed to dodge most, the others freezing before they could touch him, while Law had to protect himself by deflecting them with his nodachi, not wanting to keep wasting stamina by using his powers.

Kuzan used Soru to get behind Doflamingo, the blonde turning around protecting himself with his strings at the last second. Kuzan was close enough that when he froze the strings coming from Doflamingo’s fingers, the ice traveled them and reached his skin. The pirate managed to get away before it could reach further than his wrists, and flexed his fingers a few times to get feelings back into them.

Law tried to use this opportunity to attack, but before he could move more than a few steps forward, the ground under his feet started to shift. He jumped back to put more distance between himself and Doflamingo, and tried to right himself as the floor moved even more.

“That’s Pica.” He shouted to Kuzan when a figure started to appear out of the rocks.

Kuzan knelt, put one hand on the floor, and called forth his powers.

“ **Ice Age.** ” His voice rang clear in the air around them, ice starting to spread from his hands, quickly covering the ground. Law had to Shamble himself out of the way before his feet could get trapped.

Pica wasn’t fast enough to avoid the ice and his body got trapped for a few seconds, before he managed to turn himself back into stone and sink back into the floor. By then, ice was starting to cover the whole castle, coming down the hill the castle was on.

“Distract him for a minute.” Said Kuzan.

“I don’t take orders.” Shouted back Law as he rushed toward Doflamingo.

Kuzan narrowed his eyes in concentration. He needed to force the ice far away from him and in big quantities, without losing control. He couldn’t risk freezing the entire town below, not when there were civilians and marines alike down there. The ice reached the bottom of the plateau and he stopped its progression there for a second. With a twitch of his fingers to better control his powers, he forced it to spread only in the directions where he couldn’t sense anyone. It reached the birdcage and stopped there, and he created a thick layer of ice around the strings.

The cage creaked, Doflamingo’s powers fighting against his, and came to a halt. It wouldn’t last long, not when he needed to focus on his fight less he wanted to get taken by surprise by his opponent. But it would hopefully slow the cage long enough for the Vice-Admirals to get the bystander away from it, and give him more time to defeat Doflamingo, as well as prevent Pica from intervening in his fight.

He deftly maneuvered to avoid Doflamingo’s attack, the future former-Shichibukai trying to stop him, but it only gave Law an opening. 

With a shout, Law ran toward Doflamingo, the blond turning to try to stop him, but he managed to pass under his guard.

Using his powers far more than he ever had before, Law started to manipulate the matter around him on the atomic level. His Room started to shrink down around him, unable to stay stable while his energy was so quickly diminishing. He forced himself further until was able to control electrons, and forced them to _move_. Electricity coalesced around his hand and he grabbed it, stabbing Doflamingo’s with it. “ **Gamma Knife.** ” He shouted.

Doflamingo coughed up blood. He faltered, taking a step back as one of his hands went to clutch at his chest. More blood came out of his mouth, the pain and the heat coming from his body unbearable.

“I’ve just destroyed your organs from the inside.” Informed him Law. Doflamingo's head snapped up to look at him, a wild look on his face as he started to move his fingers, trying to stitch his organs while they still were being destroyed by the electricity coursing through his body. Before he could do more than ensure his stomach didn’t get totally destroyed, ice crept up his body. This time he wasn’t in any state to react, and he found himself entirely frozen.

“It won’t hold him for long.” Said Law, before putting one knee on the floor to prevent himself from falling further. He had black spots appearing in his vision, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to stand up, much less fight if it came to it.

When he had the idea for Gamma Knife, he hadn’t thought it would take that much out of him.

The ice was already cracking around Doflamingo, and Kuzan was forced to send another wave. 

“It doesn’t need to.” Said Kuzan, getting a pair of handcuffs out of his Admiral coat.

Law blinked, bewildered. He knew that even being close to Sea Stone had an effect on users, though without contact it only was a feeling of weakness. To know that Kuzan had fought this whole time and had come out unscathed while having a pair of Sea Stone handcuffs this close to his body was astonishing.

Kuzan made the ice around one of Doflamingo’s hands recede just enough to snap the first cuff on him, but despite being frozen and now trapped in sea stone, Doflamingo still managed to lunge forward toward Kuzan, the ice breaking around him.

Still, he wasn’t in any state to attack, and Kuzan forced him to turn around, snapping the other cuff on his wrist behind his back.

The birdcage had started to disappear as soon as the first cuff had touched him, and with a careless wave of his hand, Kuzan made the ice around them recede, slowly absorbing it in his body. 

Law let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. It wasn’t over, he still needed to get away with kidnapping Doflamingo right under the marines, under Kuzan’s nose. But seeing Doflamingo stopped like that just made him relax.

“Everything alright ?” Asked Kuzan, and Law focused back on him. The Admiral was gripping firmly Doflamingo with one hand, the other holding his Den Den Mushi.

“We apprehended most of Doflamingo’s crew.” Answered Momonga. “Some of his executives are still free but we’re fighting them right now. The one guy giving us problems is-” He stopped talking, and they could hear the sounds of blades crashing against each other. “-the one able to transform into stone.” He continued as if he had never stopped. “But Bastille and I are cornering him, it won’t take long to finish this.”

“We’re coming down with Doflamingo.” Said Kuzan. “If your fights are over by then, start loading the warship with the prisoners.” He ordered, before hanging up.

“There should be an elevator somewhere.” Said Law when he saw Kuzan eyeing the height between their position and the town.

“Lead the way.” He answered.

~~One Piece~~

By the time they reached the Vice Admirals, they had managed to win all of their fights. Seeing most of the Donquixote Pirates chained in sea stone and being led to a warship coasted nearby was a sweet sight. Not as sweet as seeing Doflamingo being chained with even more sea stone, nobody wanting to risk him getting free. Despite his injuries and the chains, he was still dangerous and physically strong. Not everyone could keep walking while trapped in sea stone, even less when injured.

Which was bad for Law, since he needed to get access to Doflamingo. Him being watched by the marines would be a problem. Especially if those marines were competent, since he didn’t have a problem killing one or two people to get Doflamingo, but he needed to kill them without anyone being aware of what he was doing. Keeping his status as a Shichibukai would only make sure the government wouldn’t pose him any problem, and he would rather keep it for now.

“Arara. It certainly has been a mess.” Said Kuza, coming to stand next to him.

Law turned his head slightly to look at him.

“The inhabitants will have trouble rebuilding everything.” Continued Kuzan.

“... Pica certainly hadn’t helped.” The birdcage had destroyed a few buildings, but they had defeated Doflamingo fast enough that most were still standing. However, Pica had fought the Vice-Admirals in the middle of the city, and hadn’t cared about property damages when he had started to create statues of himself.

“They’ll need all the help they can find.” Said Kuzan, and Law’s eyes narrowed. _What is he trying to say ?_

“It isn't my duty as a Shichibukai to stay after this.” He finally settled for.

“Hmm, sure. Well. I’ve heard the women here are lovely. I should probably stay here for a few days at least, to make sure everything is taken care of.”

 _How the hell had Akainu managed that ?_ “I’ve heard the women here like to stab people.” Law said, managing to hide his surprise at the fact that Kuzan was letting him an opening this big.

“They’re just feisty.”

“Shouldn’t you keep an eye on Doflamingo, Kuzan-san ?” Asked Bastille.

“Well, he’s chained in sea stone. They don’t need me there. Actually, you should stay to rebuild too.” 

Bastille’s face was hidden by his mask, but Law could _feel_ that the man was raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sure the ensigns will do a good job.” He said diplomatically.

“The ensigns didn’t fight the guy making those statues.”

“Momonga fought him too.” Countered Bastille.

“And Momonga will stay to help. We need someone to plan this whole rebuilding thing anyway. I’m going to tell Onigumo the news, he can afford to stay a few days. It’ll be a vacation, he might even lose his permanent scowl.”

Kuzan walked out, leaving a bewildered Bastille and a smirking Law behind.

“Well, I’m going back to my crew.” Said Law with a growing smirk. “Good luck on your rebuilding.”

Bastille muttered something too low to hear, but he could guess it wasn’t anything nice. Law sauntered away from him, back to somewhere safe where he could call his crew to tell them to come back and get him.

~~One Piece~~

With the opening Kuzan had given him, it wasn’t too much work for Law to infiltrate the warship. He had put a Marine uniform on, not wanting the Den Den Mushi scattered around the cells to catch who he was, and was slowly walking toward where Doflamingo was bound.

The Polar Tang was hiding under the warship, close enough that his powers could reach it even with the sea between them, just far enough not to hit the bottom of the marine ship. He only needed to free Doflamingo enough that he wasn’t stuck by sea stone inside the cell, and then he would be able to Shamble them both out of here. Using his powers to move sea stone was hard on his body, especially given that he would move it across water, but he could manage if he wasn’t touching it directly. 

The crew was ready in case he fainted when he reached them, and they would know what to do with Doflamingo until he regained consciousness.

Three cells, two, one… And here Doflamingo was, chained to the wall with his arms spread out above his head. His head was raised up, no doubt he had heard Law coming and didn’t want to look weak with his head hanging down.

One eyebrow rose instantly when he recognized Law. “Came here to kill me ?” He asked, an edge to his voice that Law couldn’t quite place.

“I thought you could do better than Impel Down.” Answered Law, shrugging uncaringly. He quickly opened the cell, making sure not to touch the bars which were made of sea stone.

“I was in a palace not too long ago.” Said Doflamingo. “You can’t do much better than that.”

“You’re certainly not going back to Dressrosa for a long time.” Snorted Law, before taking out a syringe. “Just making sure you won’t cause problems.” He explained, pushing the needle into his neck. Doflamingo snarled when he felt his skin being pierced, but didn’t have the time to do anything more before he sagged in his chains.

“Don’t move.” Ordered Law to the unconscious figure, before starting to prepare the cell around him. It wouldn’t do for the marines to think Doflamingo was still alive after all. The other prisoners would only have seen a marine enter, and he would give them the impression that Doflamingo had been killed. Given that some of the marines on this ship had been trapped for years as toys, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think someone had taken revenge while he was unable to defend himself.

It took him less than ten minutes to finish his preparation, and he took hold of Doflamingo’s arm. He created a Room big enough to encompass the Polar Tang, immediately feeling himself falter with the seastone present in the Room as well as the ocean below him. With a deep breath to better focus himself, he closed his eyes and muttered “ **Shambles** ”.

He fell down on the hard ground of the Polar Tang, and the Heart Pirates immediately swarmed him.

“Captain !” Called multiple voices, Penguin grabbing his head to check for damages.

“M’okay.” He muttered.

He felt Doflamingo getting taken away from him, and closed his eyes.

“We’re here, you’re safe Captain.” Said Bepo, his paws coming to rest lightly on his shoulders. “Rest for a little while, okay ? We’re taking care of the rest.”

~~One Piece~~

When a marine went to check on Doflamingo less than half an hour later, they found his cell covered in blood. An investigation quickly revealed that a body had been dragged to one of the portholes next to Doflamingo’s cell. The only person seen entering the brig had worn a Marine uniform, their face staying carefully hidden from the Den Den Mushi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Success ! We're done with Dressrosa in itself, but we'll see next chapter what happens to Doflamingo.


	17. Donquixotes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law has a conversation with Rosinante. Sakazuki has a conversation with Doflamingo.

The first thing Law did when he woke up was checking on Doflamingo. The blond was chained to the bed in the room prepared from him, an IV in his arm, and Law could appreciate his crew diligence in making sure no one was hurt on their submarine. Doflamingo couldn’t have healed after his attack after all, and he might hate the bastard but he could recognize they had done the right thing in making sure he received the medical attention he needed.

The second thing was to get to the kitchen and drink half a pot of coffee, ignoring Clione’s angry muttering about his unhealthy habits. He was a doctor, he was aware of what his body needed, and right now it was coffee.

Finally feeling more like a human being not on the verge of death, he came back to his room and eyed the third thing he needed to take care of.

The Den Den Mushi was sleeping, its shell painted with red hearts over a black background. It had been ringing almost non-stop since he had joined the Shichibukais a few weeks ago, but he had never answered, not wanting to get distracted from his mission.

Now that everything was finally over, he could relax and call back.

*Puru puru pur-* *Gotcha*

“Law ?” Shouted the voice that had picked up barely a second after Law had asked the snail to call.

“Cora-san.” Said Law, and the last remnant of a tension he didn’t know he held disappeared.

“Law- I was so worried, you had no idea, you wouldn’t answer my calls and I had to learn from the _newspaper_ that you had become a Shichibukai and I know how much you hate the government why did you do that why didn’t you tell me-”

“Cora-san !” Shouted Law before the blond could faint from lack of air.

Rosinante fell silent, tightly clutching the receiver in his hand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I didn’t want you to worry, but I was planning something and… I wasn’t sure you would approve.” Law explained.

“Are you okay ?” Rosinante asked after a second.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m… I’ve never been better.”

“...What did you do ?”

“I wanted to make sure you were safe.” Started Law. “That we were both safe, and free to live our lives how we want. We couldn’t do that when Doflamingo was still free.”

“Law, you can’t fight Doffy, please… He would kill you.”

“I know I can’t fight him alone. When I joined the Shichibukais, I planned to use it to learn more about his operations and find a way to blackmail him into resigning.”

He could hear Rosinante's breath pick up. “It wouldn’t have worked.”

“I know. So I forced the Marines to come with me so he wouldn’t have the time to get out of it. He’s been caught, Cora-san. By Admiral Aokiji. He won’t find a way to get back into any position of power.”

“... Fuck, Law.” Rosinante sounded torn.

“I know you still love him.” Said Law, and Rosinante made a wounded sound. “I know you don’t want him dead, but it’s over now. I put him somewhere he won’t ever escape from.”

“He won’t be safe in Impel Down.”

“He’s not in Impel Down. I know he can’t be left in any government facility, given the hold he had over the Tenryuubito.”

Rosinante closed his eyes in dread. Law knew.

“Why didn’t you tell me ?” Asked Law, and a note of vulnerability crept into his voice. “You know I would never hate you for being a Tenryuubito, I don’t care about anything like that when you’re concerned…”

“I’m not. Law, I’m not one of them. It didn’t matter to me, because I barely have any memory of Mary Geoise. I loved my father, my parents, but I have been raised by Sengoku more than anything, and my childhood happened in Marineford, nowhere else. I didn’t think it mattered.”

Law sighed. “It didn’t matter in the end. I just… I wanted to call you. To let you know, before the newspaper. Although Sengoku might call you.”

“He will definitely call me. Perhaps even call me back to Marineford to tell me in person.”

Law stopped breathing for a second.

Marineford. Cora-san could come back to Marineford.

While Sengoku had been smart enough to find a way to keep Vergo away from any sensitive information, they couldn’t risk firing him or sending him to jail. Not when it meant that Doflamingo would find another way to get information from the Marines, and it was better to know where the leak was coming from, and thus control what information reached the pirate ears.

With Vergo still in the Marines however, they couldn’t risk Cora-san going anywhere near the Grand Line, and certainly not Marineford. He had stayed in the Blues all those years, far out of Law reach.

But now. Vergo would be arrested soon, if he hadn’t already been, as he had no doubt Sengoku had given the order as soon as he had learned of Doflamingo defeat.

And Cora-san could come back to the Grand Line. Where he would be accessible to Law. Where he could put all of the time he had spent studying and training -if he had taken the trouble to send 100 hearts to the government, he could as well use those 100 test subjects to perfect his surgery skill- and finally, after all those years, operate on Cora-san.

Give him back his life.

Law felt a real smile, and not one of his usual smirk, grow on his face.

~~One Piece~~

Having an Admiral coming on board the Polar Tang wasn’t something Law had ever expected to happen. He should have known better than to expect anything from this particular Admiral anyway.

He had reached an empty island in the New World one day before they were supposed to meet with Akainu, to make sure that his crew was safe as far away from the marine as possible. They had heavily protested, of course, but they weren’t fighting for them to stay, they wanted him to go with them.

He didn’t yield and that was why he was sitting alone on the railing of the Polar Tang when Sakazuki arrived. 

“Fancy seeing you here, Admiral.” He drawled. Sakazuki glared at him, and Law could admit that the sight was pretty intimating. Not that he let it show of course.

“Let’s not make him wait too long.” He said when Sakazuki didn’t answer for a few seconds, and invited him with a wave of his hand to get inside the submarine. Sakazuki entered without seeming to care that he was entering a pirate vessel.

Law led him to the heavily secured room where Doflamingo was held. It took him almost a minute to disengage all the securities on the doors, and when he entered he almost stumbled as the sea stone embedded in the walls started to affect him.

“Law.” Drawled Doflamingo from his place on the bed. They had removed the chains preventing him from leaving the bed when they had removed the IV. They hadn’t wanted to let him have a weapon available and able to move at the same time. He still had a band made of seastone around each of his wrists and ankles, but he was free to move in his room. “And you even brought a guest. How nice of you.”

“I’m leaving you to your conversation.” Said Law, since it was the deal they had reached. Part of him wanted to close the door and never open it again, letting the Admiral die in it, but the sea stone in the room wasn’t enough to cut someone completely from their Devil Fruit, just to weaken them. It was there mostly to reinforce the walls against Doflamingo’s inhuman strength, and since Akainu had been the one to furnish him with sea stone he hadn’t complained. He had no doubt however that the Admiral would be able to get out in minutes given how destructive his powers were.

Sakazuki waited for a few seconds after the door closed, checking with his haki that no-one was close enough to hear or that there weren’t any hidden Den Den Mushi. Doflamingo seemed happy to stay silent for the moment.

“Are you aware of what the freezing room under Mary Geoise holds ?”

Doflamingo jerked in surprise, his eyes opening wide behind his glasses.

“Not many people know about the existence of this room.” He said after a second. “Even less know that something important is kept in it.” He seemed to think for a second, before tilting his head to the side as he observed Sakazuki. 

“Do you know who the only person allowed to visit this room is ?” Asked the marine.

“I do.”

“What do you know about them ?”

“Why do you want to know ?” Countered Doflamingo.

“They seem to be the type of person I wouldn’t win a fight against.” Said Sakazuki after thinking for a second about his answer. “I want to know what kind of weakness they have. What kind of _strength_.”

“Nobody can know about Im without them allowing it. That’s why I have this much control over the Tenryuubito. I am aware of their existence, and the Tenryuubito are afraid I’m going to reveal it to the rest of the world.” Explained Doflamingo.

“And yet you’re still alive.” Interrupted Sakazuki.

“ _They_ don’t think I’m going to reveal their existence. I wouldn’t win anything by doing so anyway, having blackmail over the Tenryuubito is far more beneficial for me.”

Doflamingo suddenly sat forward, his elbow resting on his spread knees and his chin over his linked fingers.

“The fact that _you_ know about them, however, is what is interesting about this. What happened to you that made you aware of their existence and gave you the need to know how to defeat them ?”

Sakazuki stayed silent and crossed his arm over his chest. He was feeling defensive, facing Doflamingo’s pertinent questions, but he would never tell him anything.

Doflamingo kept looking at him, trying to see any hint in his posture that would explain _how_ the hell had an Admiral, especially Akainu, become aware of Im’s existence.

“Have you ever seen my eyes ?” He asked after the silence stretched for a long time, deciding that Sakazuki wouldn’t answer and he needed to make him talk more before the man left.

“I don’t think I did.” Answered Sakazuki, rolling with the topic change.

Doflamingo grabbed his glasses, and did one of the two things he thought he would never do, removing his glasses and bowing in front of someone.

He blinked a few times as the color of the world changed around him, and stared at Sakazuki. The Admiral’s eyes were blown wide in shock as he stared at the red iris circling black pupils. The exact same eyes as Im.

“That’s one of the oldest things I can remember.” Said Doflamingo, his voice taking a soft undertone as he remembered his past, happier life in Mary Geoise. He registered Sakazuki’s reaction that meant he had seen Im from close enough to know what their eyes looked like, but chose not to attract attention to it for now. He would have ample time to think about this whole conversation when he would be left alone. 

“I always had to wear tinted glasses, even in the privacy of our home. No-one was allowed to see what my eyes looked like, not even the others Tenryuubitos. Because these,” he gestured toward his eyes with the hand holding the glasses, “are proof that I’m better than the Tenryuubito. Better than anyone. They meant that I’m destined to achieve something great, far above even my wildest dreams. I’m meant for glory.” He said, a crazy look in his eyes, and right this second Sakazuki could see how much was _wrong_ with Doflamingo.

“I’ve looked into your family, I couldn’t see any relationship with Im’s ancestors.”

Doflamingo cackled manically, the wild look not leaving his striking eyes. “Did you ? Did you really ?”

Sakazuki frowned at him.

“Did you try looking for Im’s ancestors in mine ?” Clarified Doflamingo. “Or did you look at my ancestors, see which family they were linked to, and concluded that the Donquixotes and Im had nothing in common ?”

"The last one." Admitted Sakazuki

"That's what you did wrong. Oh, sure, it was the smart thing to do not to attract attention, but it means that you missed the point. You couldn't find Im's ancestors in my family tree because you wouldn't have been able to find Im's ancestors. Period. They aren't related to anyone. They just… Exist."

~~One Piece~~

The meeting had been going on for a long time. Law was waiting at the other end of the corridor, far enough to give them their privacy. He had dragged a chair there, and was waiting for Akainu to come back while reading the latest book he had picked up on hormonal manipulation.

Finally, a knock echoed in the submarine, and he got to his feet and started the long task of getting to Doflamingo’s room again. With two heavy, sea stone laced doors creating a security lock to make sure that even if Doflamingo knocked him out he wouldn’t be able to get out and into the submarine, the process took time. Still he opened the second one and waved for Akainu to get out, keeping a watchful eye on Doflamingo the whole time.

Akainu seemed content to follow him outside without a word, until he suddenly stopped right at the edge of the Polar Tang.

“I have a question for you.” He started, his eyes focusing on Law’s one. “About the Ope Ope no Mi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay. I had this chapter ready a few days ago, but then I thought of one small part I wanted to add, and then another, and I could never find the time to write them (and they're, like, really important).  
> Starting a new semester and new classes entirely from home is so fucking hard. I also had less time to look for mistakes, so I might have missed something (I almost published this with french in it from when I forgot how english worked while wirting)
> 
> We're now done with Dressrosa ! Next chapter, a more or less rushed explanation of what's happening in the world while we're waiting for Sakazuki next big move.


	18. Newspapers And Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The progression of the Straw Hat crew, seen through the newspaper. Powerful Marines also get to eat ramen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose a name for Ryokugyu, because I had to name him at one point, so now he’s Meihi.

_A few days after the Straw Hats reached Sabaody_

Reading the World Economic Newspaper was a must if one wanted to stay informed of what happened in the world. Morgans had contacts within every organization, from the Marines to the Yonkos. The only ones who seemed to be able to avoid him were the top of the Revolutionary Army as well as CP 0 and 9, not that Nine existed right now.

The first time, Sakazuki had been too busy healing from his injuries after Marineford to care about what the WEN was writing about. Then he had his fight against Kuzan, which had sent him back to the medical bay for a week before he got out against the doctor's recommendations. All in all, by the time he was Fleet Admiral, he had missed weeks of information, and had only cared to catch up on what was relevant to the Marines.

But right now, he was in perfectly good health, and had nothing better to do than read.

On the front page was a picture of Straw Hat Luffy. He felt heat start to swell under his skin, but managed to control his rage before the paper could combust.

There was no invasion of Impel Down, no intervention at Marineford, what the _hell_ had Straw Hat done to deserve being front page ?

The answer was printed for all to see. He had been seen in the company of Dark King Rayleigh destroying G3's base. A base that was proud to announce that Admiral Kizaru had been there in his early career. It was clearly an answer to the fact that the Straw Hats had been defeated by the Admiral at Sabaody, Kuma's intervention the only reason they were still alive.

What was more important was that on the picture Straw Hat could be seen grinning widely, his right arm stretched to reach something out the picture, the other bent to touch his hat. On his left could be seen a tattoo, and Sakazuki narrowed his eyes to decipher the writing.

 ~~3D~~ 1Y

The code wasn't hard to understand. He had probably used the same strategy the last time to communicate with his crew, which explained why they had all shown up at Sabaody after 2 years hidden, and why he had heard of Straw Hat coming back to Marineford in the company of Jimbei and Rayleigh.

He wondered for a second if he should tell their intelligence cell about it, before deciding that if they couldn't understand the message they didn't deserve to know.

He wanted Nico Robin to reach Laugh Tale anyway.

~~One Piece~~

The arrival of the Straw Hats at Sabaody one year later wasn't discreet. It had been less of a mess than the last time, since there was half the number of Marines present that day as the fake-Straw Hats hadn’t been there attracted attention and they barely had the time to call for one of the pacifistas before the pirates had left the island.

Still, it showed their fighting progress, Straw Hat having been seen fighting a Pacifista and downing it in one hit.

In the meantime, Issho and Meihi had been called from the hell hole they had been sent in the deepest part of the New World. While they were still Vice Admirals, they didn’t seem to care about the difference in rank and were often seen hanging out with the Admirals, especially Kuzan and Borsalino. 

Some of the officers were quite jealous and didn’t hide their snide comments, but everyone not stupid knew that getting close to the Admirals wasn’t useful when you were a Vice. The Gorosei were the ones to chose who became Admiral, so even if one of them became the Fleet Admiral they couldn’t support their friend’s career. It was much more useful to be friends with them to further your career if you were of a lower rank.

Which was why none of them cared about the naysayers, and they regrouped one evening in Borsalino’s office. Sakazuki didn’t participate in this type of get-together often, mostly because the relation between admirals had always been too tense to before, and then he had become the Fleet Admiral, with too much responsibility and too little time.

Borsalino actually had couches in his office, which was why they were meeting here. Kuzan and Issho were sharing one, Issho eating his third bowl of ramen while Kuzan was relaxing next to him, his arm spread over the back of the couch, listening with his head cocked to Meihi talking.

Sakazuki had stolen Borsalino’s chair, and was sitting sideways on it, resting one shoulder and the side of his head against the back. Meihi was taking the second couch, Borsalino sitting on the armrest next to him, one foot rhythmically tapping against Meihi’s leg.

Meihi was telling them the reason why he had been sent to one of the remotest parts of the New World, so far away that he hadn’t been called back for the battle of Marineford. Sakazuki had already heard part of the tale in passing, but he hadn’t stopped to listen to the full story, which made it new to him as well.

“... And that’s when the guy tried to order me to make the plants around us grow. I don’t know how the idea that I could control plant came to him.”

“Isn’t it part of your zoan form ? A greater connection to nature ?” Asked Kuzan.

“Connection, sure. Plants aren’t really aware, but they still have some sort of instinct, of knowledge that they share between them. I’m just connected to that, which is useful for when someone is trying to hide in a forest and I can just follow their footstep by knowing where they crushed grass, but I can’t control the plants. I can’t just order them to grow or attack someone, not like… this officer, the one with the Grow-Grow fruit.”

“Binz.” Answered Sakazuki.

“So what did you do ?” Asked Issho.

“Well, you know how it is. The guy was nobility, even related to the king’s family. I tried to explain to him that I couldn’t do that-” Kuzan snorted at that, well aware of how nobles behaved once they had an idea in their head. They wouldn’t let a lowly Marine tell them that they were wrong. “Yeah, didn’t end up well.” Acknowledged Meihi. “After he threatened me for the third time in a row with being hanged for disobeying him, I decided, since it was what he wanted, to change into my zoan form.”

“The full one ?” Asked Borsalino.

“I knew I was fucked either way, so better get sacked for going all out. It was funnier anyway.”

“I bet he reacted well.” Said Kuzan.

“Well, I started the transformation slowly. He didn’t notice my fingers at first.” As he said it, he made a small wave with his fingers, showing how they lengthened until they had more than doubled in length, skin growing between each finger up to the first knuckle, giving his hand a webb-like appearance. “He _did_ notice however when my bottom jaw got absorbed into my body, and the way my top teeth sharpened. That’s when he started to scream and his bodyguards shot at me. He fainted when my legs transformed as well.”

“Hmm. You’re ki~nd of terrifying.”

“What ? I look nice.”

“Legs aren’t supposed to bend like that.” Countered Sakazuki. “It’s disturbing.”

“I don’t see any of you going to Marco the Phoenix to start to protest about how his feet look !”

“Your feet look normal, at least as normal as they can when they get replaced by claws. But you look like you have a second pair of knees, except that they’re curved and they bend in the wrong direction, it is disturbing.” Finished Kuzan.

“Where do you hide your tibias ?” Asked Issho.

“I don’t hide my- you know what, I’m not going around criticizing your Devil Fruits. I’ll have you know that no woman ever had a problem with my looks.”

“Sure, you look ni~ce when you’re in human form-”

“Didn’t know you leaned that way.” Remarked Kuzan.

“I did.” Muttered Sakazuki.

“-but I think that’s just nature trying to compensate for how you look when you use your Devil Fruit.”

“I’ll have you know that Vegapunk was able to design leg prosthesis thanks to the way my legs look. Controlling gravity of having a logia is all well and good, but you didn’t help science progress.”

“I could create prothesis too.” Protested Kuzan, and Sakazuki couldn’t stop his wince in time. 

Issho titled slightly his head to the side, and he wondered for a second what the too-perceptive man had sensed. He might keep a tight grip on his presence all the time, and the other admirals had no reason to use their haki when in Marineford, but Issho always had his haki active, and it was one of the best he had seen, probably only rivaled in the Marines by Borsalino’s, and Borsalino’s was more geared toward fights, while Issho’s was good enough for everyday use.

“And give them frostbite.” Countered Borsalino.

“I could just make people float so they don’t need to walk.” Mused Issho.

~~One Piece~~

Despite not having stopped at either Punk Hazard and then Dressrosa, the Straw Hats had managed to find a few other kingdoms and government facilities to destroy. Their journey was far more documented that way, especially their fighting progress, and Sakazuki could track down how fast their control over their haki and their abilities grew with each fight.

When intel reached them through CP0, since thanks to Spandam stunt with the Buster Call they now had greater access to Cipher Pol resources -even though CP0 was still mostly out of the marines’ reach as they were directly under the Tenryuubito command- about Big Mom having another marriage, this time involving one of her multiple daughters and the Vinsmoke family, he was ready to read about the clusterfuck that was going to happen.

Indeed, a few days later, the newspaper had all the gory details explaining how the Straw Hats had humiliated Big Mom, destroyed two of the Sweet Commanders, put Big Mom herself out of commission, destroyed Whole Cake Chateau as well as managed to escape after destroying most of their fleet. Even for the Straw Hat crew, it was a lot of destruction.

The route they were taking seemed to indicate they were going to Wano next. He didn’t know _how_ , but he guessed that both times they had managed to get their hand on Big Mom’s poneglyphs. If they reached the one in Wano, they would be one step closer to Laugh Tale. By his calculation, they would reach Wano only a few months earlier than in his own timeline, and that was if they didn’t stop en route.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you notice how I _totally smoothly_ introduced Ryogukyu and his Devil Fruit ? I kinda wrote that line in the first chapter, on how Im disfigured him and that it was because of his Devil Fruit, without thinking that I would have to reintroduce him later, so I had to find a Zoan… I don’t know if my description is clear, and I didn’t want to just have a “oh he transform in the middle of the office and I describe him” scene, but his legs look like those legs prosthesis that is made of arcs, like Oscar Pistorius (sorry I don’t know any famous non-murderer person that wear leg prosthesis).  
> Next chapter… We reach Wano !  
> I’ll probably be able to get back to posting on Tuesday.


	19. Alliance In The Country Of Wano

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkins joins the Beast Pirates and sees a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this before the chapters 999+ came out. So if you aren’t up to date on the latest chapters, there is no risk of spoilers here (and this is an AU anyway). You still need to have read up to chapter 990 I'd say not to get spoiled on anything.

Having Kaido of the Beasts fall from the sky in the middle of his meeting with the Kid Pirates and the On-Air Pirates wasn’t something Hawkins had seen coming. He had seen that something big would happen that day, but had stupidly thought that it meant their alliance would have some sort of impact on the world, and hadn't asked more of his cards, more focused on trying to see if their goal to take down Red-Haired Shanks would succeed.

When they had heard the crash outside, the three captains, as well as Killer, rushed outside, peering curiously at the crater. They all startled when a hand came out of it, a gigantic figure climbing out.

Kaido was _huge_. He towered above them at roughly eight meters tall. Then he started shouting about bringing war to the world, and all hell broke loose.

Apoo didn’t even try to fight. The coward and his crew ran away as soon as Kaido started attacking, disappearing in less than a minute.

Hawkins tried his best, of course, but his survival instinct was greater than his pride. When Kaido’s fist closed on his bloodied form and the Yonko lifted him to eye level, ordering him to _yield_ and join his crew, he stopped fighting and accepted his fate.

He wasn’t in any state to do anything else anyway.

Not that it seemed to stop the Kids Pirates. Both Kid and Killer kept rising up, kept defying Kaido, telling him that they would never join.

Only when Kaido grabbed Kid and tore his metal arm away from his shoulder, tearing away the metal rods linking it to his body and sending Kid fast on the way to faint from blood loss, did Killer relent.

Hawkins was sitting on the floor not far away from them, where Kaido had dropped him. He hadn’t wanted to move just in case it brought the Yonko’s attention back on him.

Kaido was unmovable in front of Killer’s pleas to let his captain go, roaring that Kid would join his crew in the end, no matter how long he had to suffer for it.

And then a ship wearing the Beast Pirates jolly roger showed up, and Hawkins understood that Kaido hadn’t landed here by chance.

This was Kid’s hideout. Nobody had known they were hiding here, except for his and Apoo’s crews. Apoo had backed up as soon as Kaido had started attacking, and Kaido had _let him_.

He would find a way to make him pay for this, he didn’t care how long it took. For now, he would do his best to lose Kaido’s distrust and keep himself as well as his crew safe, but one day an opportunity would present itself, and he would take his revenge on Apoo.

~~One Piece~~

By the time they reached Wano, only half of Hawkins’s injuries from fighting Kaido had healed. He kept himself walking straight and not limping by sheer force of will and the need not to appear weak in the face of the people he would be forced to work with.

He had heard Kid being tortured on the ship, and could admire the redhead’s strength of mind. He might find him overly loud and obnoxious, but he was still strong and apparently willing to die for what he believed in. Killer had joined his captain a few times in the torture cells, probably in an attempt to make Kid break, but it hadn’t worked.

Now, Kid had been sent to a prison in Udon, wherever that was, and Killer somewhere where they could do experiments on him and feed him a Devil Fruit. He and Apoo had followed Kaido to Onigashima, where one of the higher-ups in Kaido’s crew would decide to take him in his group.

From what he had understood from the various conversations he had heard, the three Calamities were actually called the All Stars and were the highest members of Kaido’s crew. Then there were the headliners, the members strong and capable enough to lead their own men. The six strongest headliners were the Tobiroppos, held in high regard by Kaido and the ones most likely to become an All stars if one died.

Hawkins hadn’t thought much of it when he heard this information. Of course Kaido would have some trusted men in his crew, and while it would be a good idea to aim for these ranks, he first needed to heal, then to start to earn the trust of the other headliners. At least his status as a Supernova meant he already was a headliner and wouldn’t have to start from the bottom.

He hadn’t wanted to ask too many questions and bring attention to himself, trusting the cards when they told him not to be impatient. So, other than the Calamities who were well known in the Grand Line as they all had a bounty of over a billion, he hadn’t known the identity of the other important members. Case in point, the Tobiroppos.

Seeing Drake casually strolling around Onigashima had been a shock. Drake hadn’t seemed to expect him, his face actually showing his surprise for half a second, before he grabbed Hawkins and bodily dragged him to the closest room.

“What the hell are you doing here ?” Hissed Drake.

“I joined Kaido’s crew. Didn’t have that much of a choice, really.” He added before Drake could lose his calm. The man had changed since he had last seen him almost two years ago on Sabaody, he seemed to have grown taller as well as more muscled, and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. “What about you ?” He asked.

“With a Devil Fruit like mine, it was inevitable.” Answered Drake. “He made you a headliner, right ?”

“Yes. Aren’t you one as well ?”

“I’m part of the Tobiroppos. I’ve been with Kaido for… About a year and a half now.”

Well. Drake might act like it hadn’t been his choice, but to find a Yonko in only a few months and join his crew, he had to have been looking for him. It must have been the goal that he had mentioned during their last meeting.

Who knows what he wanted from Kaido though.

~~One Piece~~

When Drake ordered him to go look for the rest of the Straw Hats when Luffy got imprisoned in Udon, and he heard later that the prisoners had escaped from the prison, he knew better than to ask questions. It wasn’t hard to understand that the Supernova was somehow involved in his and Kid’s disappearance.

It seemed like Who’s Who had the same thought, since the other Tobiroppo approached him with a plan to trap Drake and force him to reveal why he had betrayed them.

Which led to where he was now, leaning against a wall watching Who’s Who beat up a cuffed in seastone Drake, questioning his true loyalties. He was supposed to act as a lookout, making sure that nobody could enter the room and try to help Drake.

It let Hawkins with the freedom to intervene.

Would he help Drake though ? He might want to face Kaido one day, but was he ready to betray him today ?

Then again, Drake must have seen something that pushed him to act now. The Supernova wasn’t someone who would have thrown away all the clout he had amassed in the Beast Pirates if he wasn’t sure it would pay off.

Could he trust Drake’s judgement ?

He surreptitiously pulled out his tarot cards, and called forth the spirits.

Chance of victory if he stayed with the Beast Pirates : 27 %  
Chance of dying if he stayed with the Beast Pirates : 12 %.  
Chance of going free if he followed Drake : 72 %

A glance at Drake closed-off face, not letting anything appear despite Who’s Who attacking him with his sword, and he was sure of his decision.

Who’s Who crumpled on the floor, a sword piercing his heart through the back.

“I hope you have a plan.” He said, watching Drake show surprise for a second, the first expression on his face for a while.

“Not one you would like.” Admitted Drake.

“Well, it’s still my best chance of going free so I’ll take it.”

Drake raised an eyebrow at that. “Going free, uh ? That's oddly specific.”

“The probabilities of Kaido losing and me not dying were high. My arrest was one of the possible outcomes I had to look for.”

“Help me get out of here and I’ll see what I can do.” Grunted Drake, holding his bounds hand out for Hawkins to see.

Hawkins checked that Who’s Who was indeed dead, before rummaging through his clothes to find the key. He freed Drake, promptly taking a step back when Drake’s eyes turned yellow as he reconnected with his animal side.

“Come on, we need to go before someone starts looking for either you or Who’s Who.” Said Hawkins, moving forward once again and helping Drake put his arm over his shoulders. The symmetry of the situation with Sabaody almost made him smile, and he couldn’t resist teasing Drake about it.

“What do you plan to do, once you get out of Kaido’s reach ?” He asked, and Drake shot him a side glance showing that he as well remembered Sabaody and wasn’t impressed with Hawkins.

“Get back to my people.” He answered, and Hawkins looked surprised that he had actually answered. “If you keep going with me you’ll soon see who they are. Even if you don’t, you’re smart enough that you will understand as soon as they appear.” Justified Drake.

~~One Piece~~

They surprisingly managed to get out of Onigashima without problems, and it didn’t take long to get into Ringo. The frozen landscape around them didn’t help their progression, and Drake was putting more and more weight on him. Hawkins didn’t falter under his weight, but he could tell that he too was starting to get affected by the cold.

Drake's head suddenly snapped up, and Hawkins stopped walking. “We’re getting close.” He warned.

“I can’t feel anyone yet.” Admitted Hawkins.

“Trust me, they’re here. Last time for you to get out while you still can.”

Hawkins stared into Drake’s eyes for a long moment. Drake's words were rising warning bells in his head, but it was too late to back down. It reassured him though that the Supernova was willing to warn him like that. Even though it meant that whatever was going on could be harmful to him, at least Drake hadn’t left him unprepared.

“I don’t really have other options now.” He answered truthfully.

“Your crew ?”

“They’ve been slowly getting out of the Beast Pirates and back to our ship. I was the only one that couldn’t leave freely.”

“At least they’re safe-ish.” Recognized Drake. He adjusted himself on Hawkins’s shoulder, and they started to walk again. Soon they were close enough that Hawkins started to sense other people. Most were heavily suppressing their aura, to the point where he couldn’t pinpoint who they were or how powerful.

As soon as he saw the marine uniforms, he understood what Drake had tried to tell him.

The soldiers startled seeing them, quickly reacting and pointing their guns at them.

“Stop right now !” Shouted one of the marines, his loud voice attracting the attention of everyone in the camp.

Drake removed his arm from Hawkins’ shoulder, drawing himself to his full height.

“Don’t talk like that to your superiors, ensign.” He snarled, his voice taking on a commanding tone that Hawkins had never heard from him.

The marine hesitated, his grip on his rifle shaking slightly.

“Rear Admiral Drake.” Said a new voice from behind them, and Hawkins couldn’t help but flinch. His head turned slightly to the side, looking through his hair to see Admiral Akainu standing behind him. “I’m taking we are having this conversation somewhere private.” He drawled, walking just next to Hawkins, putting his hand on Drake's shoulder to guide him further in their camp. With a tilt of his head, Drake told Hawkins to follow.

The pirate captain followed them, feeling definitely out of place in the middle of that many marines but not willing to show it, keeping his head held high. Most people weren’t focused on him anyway, but on Drake.

“What happened ?” Asked Sakazuki, his hand moving to support Drake's weight, the man stumbling as soon as they were out of sight of the other marines.

“Who’s Who became aware that I helped the break out of Udon.” Explained Drake. “He trapped me in sea stone, Hawkins helped me escape.”

Sakazuki’s black eyes focused on Hawkins for a second, before he dismissed him. “How hurt are you ?” He asked.

“He likes to use poison on his blade. My zoan healing is keeping me alive but I’ll need to get the poison out of my bloodstream to be in any shape to fight.”

“I’ll call a doctor, then we’re talking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Drake gets reunited with the Marines... With a bonus Hawkins hanging around.


	20. Attack On Onigashima

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Marines join the Ninja-Mink-Samurai-Pirate’s raid on Onigashima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be (very vaguely) spoiling Ulti Devil Fruit (but Ulti herself hadn’t appeared yet in the anime, I think ?). I think that the rest is safe. As safe as a story about Wano can be anyway.

Once Drake explained the latest development he hadn’t had the time to tell Sakazuki about in their last call, the Admiral turned to face Hawkins. The pirate had been leaning against a wall, quite happy to be forgotten while so close to an admiral.

His latest encounter with one had ended badly, and this time he didn’t have any dolls to help him stay alive. Not that he expected to survive this encounter if it devolved into a fight, not like he had been able to survive Kizaru. Akainu had a reputation not to let any pirate he met live.

“Why did you bring him here ?” Asked Sakazuki to Drake, his eyes not leaving Hawkins.

“He helped me escape.” Shrugged Drake. He knew that it wasn’t an acceptable answer, and explained his reasoning more. “It was beneficial to us both to get there together. I wouldn’t have been able to make the journey alone, and he wouldn’t have been able to get away from Kaido’s force on his own. He would have sent one of the other Tobiroppos or even one of the All Stars after his ship if he tried to leave Wano.” He explained.

“How many of Kaido’s crew can you transform into one of your straw dolls ?” Asked Sakazuki.

“About 80% of the people ranking lower than headliner.” It didn’t take much to be able to use someone as a doll, he only needed to have been in a position of power over them. He had made sure to work with as many different people as possible, just in case he ever needed to fight in Onigashima.

“And how many at the same time ?”

As if he would give him a number. “I can renew them easily if I’m near them.” He answered instead.

“You come fight on the front line with us and I’ll be willing to give you a five minute headstart when everything is over before ordering the marines to chase you.” Offered Sakazuki.

“I’ll tell you the weakness of the headliners, the kind of thing Drake wouldn’t know, and you’ll leave me alone for a day.”

Sakazuki turned to look at Drake, trying to see if the intel was something Drake couldn’t tell him.

“I haven’t been a headliner for quite some time, and most of them are more interested in taking my rank than in confiding in me.” He answered truthfully.

“A day.” Agreed Sakazuki. “It better be worth it.”

~~One Piece~~

Of course, the Straw Hats and their allies, consisting of the Kid Pirates as well as the Samurais they had recruited somewhere in Wano, and for some reasons the Minks -he had never quite understood what they were doing there even the first time- didn’t wait for the Marines plan to start before attacking Kaido, which let the Marines scrambling to reach Onigashima in time to participate in the fight.

Sakazuki had expected this, knowing that Straw Hat was the type of person that would charge headfirst into danger without a care for what the people around him had planned. When they reached Onigashima, Drake and Hawkins immediately jumped into battle while Sakazuki directed the marines around the island to fight the lower member of the Beast Pirates.

A quick check with his haki told him how the fights were doing. Hawkins was taking on multiple headliners at the same time, not caring to block the damage he was taking. He seemed to move forward with a goal in mind, but he couldn’t sense anyone important in the direction he was going. Probably a personal grudge against one of the Beast Pirates.  
The two biggest Minks were fighting against Jack the Drought, the fight for now in the All Stars favor even if they were holding their own, but it would change in less than an hour when the moon rose high enough.

Page One and Ulti were fighting against Drake, the three already in their dinosaur form, Drake holding his own against the two Tobiroppos.

King was attacking the Straw Hats, Black Leg Sanji following him in the air to attack him, God Usopp as well as Cat Burglar Nami assisting him from the floor with their long-range attacks. From what he knew of Black Leg’s strength, the man wouldn’t win this fight alone, but there were enough good fighters around that would be willing to help him take down King that he would fall one day.

Pirate Hunter Zoro was locked in a duel against Queen, the All Star transformed into his Brachiosaurus form and trying to stomp on Roronoa, which wasn’t going so well since the pirate had no problem holding his weight and even pushed him back, almost making him fall on his back.

Both Straw Hat and Eustass were fighting against Kaido. The Yonko didn’t seem hurt while both Supernovas were already in a bad state.

One woman who was towering over him, easily eight meters tall, tried to step into his path and he burned her alive before she could do anything. Magma was dripping from him, targeting every pirate around no matter their crew. The Samurais and Minks understood quickly that his magma was avoiding them and quickly started pushing their enemies toward him, while the few Kids pirates that were fighting around made sure to get as far away from him as possible. He couldn’t see any other Straw Hats, but he knew that they were all pulling their weight somewhere.

Straw Hat covered his body in haki, his limbs inflating in that weird way he had, just in time for Kaido’s mace to smash into his body. The weapon was almost as big as him, and he crashed hard into the ground. Sakazuki wondered for a second if he was dead or at least unconscious, before he twitched, one hand grabbing the ground as he dragged his body back into a sitting position.

Kaido looked angry that he hadn’t been too hurt by the attack, and transformed into his dragon form. He rose high into the air, his form long enough to be seen from everyone fighting. A hush fell over the crowd as Kaido opened his mouth and a miniature sun created in it.

The Beast pirates immediately panicked, even the All Stars abandoning their fight in an attempt to run. Metal started to gather between Kaido and them, Kid having spread his arms, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he tried to shield them from the blast. The pieces of metal all slotted against each other, before getting covered in black, Kid wavering at the strain of using his haki on a surface that big. Luffy next to him started to follow him in his attempt, blowing air in his arm to try to make it as big as possible.

No matter how strong they were, no matter that Straw Hat’s Haki was strong enough to withstand a hit of Kaido’s weapon, it wouldn’t hold against Kaido’s attack.

Magma poured out of his body, and he urged it forward, forming a protecting dome just under Kid’s shield. Less than a second later, Kaido released his attack, a beam of light and fire going out of his mouth. It clashed against Kid’s metal, the captain falling on the ground as he felt his haki being overpowered. He managed to hold out a few seconds before the metal melted under the heat of Kaido’s attack.

Sakazuki, however, had no problem withstanding even an attack as strong as this one. It was more geared toward mass destruction, the strength behind the attack being mostly its heat as well as the time it lasted, most people not being durable enough to bear the beam long enough to survive.

He was a Logia, one of the most powerful. Magma surged out of his body, creating more and more protective layers even as the outside ones were chipped at by Kaido’s attack. He covered the shield in haki, just enough that the magma wasn’t destroyed immediately without exhausting him.

The beam lasted less than a minute, long enough for him to start to feel the strain.

When the loud screeching sound stopped, he waited a second before calling back his magma into himself.

“Fuck.” Groaned Kid, struggling to get back on his feet as he noticed the Marine Admiral standing just a few meters away from him.

Sakazuki eyed him for a second, debating with himself the merit of burning him alive right now. Someone would ask him why he let Straw Hat live if he had the time to kill Eustass Kid, and he would rather not have people asking questions.

When Killer jumped onto the roof they were all standing, Sakazuki let him grab his captain as well as Straw Hat before jumping off the roof and onto safer grounds.

“The Marines have nothing to do in Wano.” Growled Kaido.

“I don’t care what you think I should do.” Said Sakazuki.

“You think you’re strong enough to kill a Yonko ? To kill me ?”

“Yes.” Kind of. He had killed Blackbeard in this timeline, and had been responsible for a good chunk of Whitebeard’s injuries that had led to his death in the previous one. He had the advantage of having his Devil Fruit forty years now. It had taken him time to regain full control of himself, but he remembered all the different ways he had devised to use it, and had the time to create new, stronger techniques.

“Let me show the superiority of the Beast Pirates over the rest of the world then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : They FIGHT !


	21. Kaido Of The Beasts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakazuki vs Kaido, lava-making dog vs fire-breathing dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaido’s attacks are mine, so no spoil here. As usual when Sakazuki fight people, **Canon Typical Violence.** For Saka fighting with lava + a move that is in the same type of violence as “Hajrudin breaking his bones against Machvise”, but more detailed. The tags have been updated too.
> 
> Previously : Kaido's last sentence was "Let me show the superiority of the Beast Pirates over the rest of the world then."

Sakazuki sneered at the proclamation, turned his legs into magma, and propelled himself into the sky, aiming for Kaido’s scar where one of his claws met his stomach. He knew the area here would only be protected by Kaido’s haki, which wasn’t anything to scoff at, but not by the scales that protected the rest of his body.

He moved his fingers into a claw-like form and turned his hand into magma.

With a shout of “ **Hellhound** ”, he thrust his hand forward. He felt the skin give under his hand, his fingers reaching Kaido’s insides. He increased the heat in an attempt to cause internal damage, but Kaido curled on himself, his tail swatting him like he was a fly and sending him crashing hard into the ground of the island, away from the skull dome.

Given that Kaido was around 150 meters long in this form, the size comparison wasn’t off.

Sakazuki jumped back to his feet, and watched as Kaido flew toward him. Good. More space to fight here, the destructive nature of his Devil Fruit was quite hindering when fighting around so many people.

He had gotten used to sparing the lives of as many Marines as possible in his fights, but taking down Kaido was more important than them. Still, it was nice to know he wouldn’t have to make the choice.

Now that he was on real ground, he could make more destructive moves. He could especially force Kaido out of the sky.

He punched the ground under his feet and pulsed magma deep into the earth. The pressure and the heat broke the tectonic plate under him in two, and the liquid metals of the outer core of the earth broke free, pushing the solid layer above it and crushing it into lava, creating more and more volcanoes under their feet. Kaido reached the sky above him and seemed ready to attack, so he forced more magma under himself. The underground volcanoes finally exploded, covering the earth around him in lava and releasing a large amount of volcanic ashes into the sky.

Kaido’s vision was suddenly impaired by all the ash, but it didn’t deter him. He changed the attack he was planning, electricity surging around him, accelerated by the coils of his body. He released his attack, targeting a wide range of the ground, wanting to make sure Sakazuki would be hit.

Sakazuki grunted in pain as a bolt of lightning shot through his body. Kaido’s attack was once again strong, definitely strong enough to hurt him and kill weaker people. But still, these kinds of wide attacks meant that his strength was spread, wasted in the lightning strikes hitting the ground all around him. As long as Kaido didn’t have the opportunity to put his full strength into an attack targeted only toward him, he would be fine.

And with the ashes obscuring his vision, Kaido could either rely on those wide-ranged attacks that Sakazuki could bear without too much problem, or try to be more accurate and target him directly. His observation Haki however was on par with Kaido’s, and without his vision the Yonko had no chance of hitting him like that. With a growl, Kaido dived toward the ground, turning back into his human form and landing with a loud _thud_.

He didn’t seem to care about the fact that the floor was lava under his feet, walking toward Sakazuki while dragging his mace behind him.

Sakazuki transformed his arm into magma, making it take the form of a fist behind his back. He hurled the mass forward with a shout of “ **Great Eruption** ”, sending it toward Kaido. The Yonko took it head on, moving his arm to hit the magma from the side and sending it crashing away from him.

“You think a little heat is scaring me ? I’m a dragon, I burn hotter than you.”

“It’s magma, not heat.” Said mildly Sakazuki. “I don’t look like Charlotte Oven.”

Kaido only grunted in answer. Even bantering with Whitebeard at Marineford had been better. Whitebeard might have the tendency to call everyone ‘brat’, which was annoying, but at least he knew how to taunt. Kaido just bragged about his own strength, or Sakazuki’s lack of.

With a sigh, he launched himself toward the Yonko.

Kaido swang his mace at him, and he blocked the hit with one arm. The impact was strong, his feet skidding a few meters despite him manipulating the lava under him to support his weight.

Kaido charged, and Sakazuki prepared a move he didn’t have to use often. Most of the people he fought against were smaller than him or roughly his size. Even Big Mom’s children weren’t much bigger than him, only Linlin as well as some of her oldest sons were exceeding 5 meters.

With a frontflip he passed over Kaido’s head, putting one hand on his shoulder and using it as a pivot to turn himself so he could grab Kaido around the neck with one arm. Despite Kaido stepping back to try to maintain his equilibrium, he still managed to get a good grip on his neck and force him to bend back. Kaido however used his mace as a crutch, making sure he wouldn’t fall on his back and using his free hand to grab Sakazuki behind his back.

He didn’t have the time to finish his attack, the end game having been to either snap his opponent's neck, which wouldn’t be possible for someone as strong as Kaido, or to use the free access to their eyes to blind them.

Kaido had compensated too fast, and he released his neck to grab one of his horns. Either he managed to hold on, or he would be thrown away with enough force that Kaido would tear his horn off.

The last one happened. Sakazuki went flying, manipulating the lava under him to right himself quickly. With a satisfied smirk, he looked into Kaido’s fury-filled eyes and closed his hand on the horn, crushing it under his fingers.

Kaido moved too quickly for his eyes to follow, only his haki warning him of the Yonko suddenly finding himself in front of him. He took a step back and covered all of his body in haki in an attempt to protect himself from an attack that could land anywhere.

Kaido’s hand clamped over his tattoo-covered shoulder, the fingers breaking through his haki and deep into the skin. He jerked his hand to the side and Sakazuki reacted just fast enough in following the movement instead of resisting, which was the only reason he didn’t instantly lose his arm.

It made him come close enough to Kaido’s body that he attempted a counterattack before he got too wounded. He let himself drop to the ground, Kaido’s fingers scratching his shoulder bones and tearing his skin as he wrenched himself away from Kaido’s hand at just the right angle to keep his arm.

He grabbed Kaido’s mace with his injured arm and wrenched it out of Kaido’s grip, snapping it in half against the ground.

His shoulder was thrumming in pain, blood seeping into his suit. His arm had certainly been dislocated by Kaido’s grip, the tear in the ligaments making it hang limply at his side. He could force it to move like he just did thanks to his logia, but it would only aggravate the damage, maybe even irreparably, and he preferred to use it as a last resort. Kaido was a menace even without his mace, but there was no denying that destroying the weapon needed to be done.

He rolled on the floor from his low position, managing to right himself and erect a wall of magma between them giving him a much-needed second to breath. He was the most injured one in the fight, but he wasn’t yet at a disadvantage. Kaido was forced on the ground which was covered in cooling lava, transforming into his dragon form wasn’t strategic, and he no longer had his weapon.

He didn’t seem bothered by Sakazuki's earlier wound on his scar, but it didn’t take much to kill someone, no matter their strengh. One particularly well aimed attack on his heart or somewhere vital would be enough. He just needed to create the opportunity and seize it, before the fight turned too much in Kaido’s favor.

The Yonko advanced once again toward him and they traded blows, Kaido targeting his injured side as much as possible. Sakazuki dodged the first blows, blocking one with his good arm. The strength behind the hit made his born rattle, and he decided not to injure his good side by protecting the injured one. Kaido once again attacked his left arm, too fast for him to dodge, and he decided to take the hit. It was strong enough that this arm definitely got broken, which would make it even harder for him to move it if needed.

But he had dug his feet into the ground, had forced magma to stabilize him, and despite the strength behind the attack, his body hadn’t been thrown away. He now found himself right in front of Kaido, in the perfect place to counterattack and end this fight once and for all.

With a flick of his right wrist, he projected specs of magma into Kaido’s face, and used his disorientation to aim a real attack at his face.

The pirate roared in pain as Sakazuki’s fingers connected with one of his eyes, burning it in the process. He staggered back and Sakazuki used this opportunity, Kaido too disorientated to use advanced armament on his body, and his hand passed through his throat.

No matter how strong was Kaido, nobody could keep living for long with a hole through the trachea.

Kaido’s form shimmered between human and dragon for a second as he tried to transform, before he dropped on the ground.

Sakazuki kept his distance for a minute. One could survive for a few seconds without air, and he didn’t want to risk Kaido being still alive and attempting a last attack that would take him out.

Finally, he was sure that it had been long enough for him to die, and his shoulders sagged in relief. His mouth twisted in pain as the movement jarred his injured arm. His arm was the most injured, but the strength of Kaido’s last hit had impacted his whole body, and it wouldn’t surprise him if some of his other bones had been cracked by the impact. Still, he wasn’t too injured. He would be fairly bruised, and was sure that his skin was already becoming purple in some place, but it could be hidden behind clothes for a few more minutes.

He couldn’t show weakness if he wanted to make a triumphant return. No doubt the Beast Pirates still in any state to fight would attack him as soon as they saw Kaido’s body.

~~One Piece~~

His shoulder bandaged by a thorn sleeve to prevent the blood loss and hidden behind his Admiral coat that somehow was still whole, his good arm dragging Kaido behind him by the hair, he went back to the entrance of the skull dome and Kaido’s castle. The first few floors were littered with dead bodies, most of them Beast Pirates, but he could still hear sounds from the top of the castle indicating fights were still happening.

When he reached the last floor before the one out of the skull dome, he saw the dead body of someone he quickly recognized as Roar of the Sea Apoo, one of the less notable members of the Supernova. He had joined Kaido’s force early after his entrance in the New World, but Sakazuki had never been worried about his powers, since they weren’t a danger to him or any logia, and were easily countered once you understood he needed to be heard to do damage.

He had a metal harmonica sticking out of his throat, indicating that Eustass Kid had probably something to do with his death. Given that the On Air - Kid - Hawkins alliance had been announced to the world soon before they got captured by Kaido, and two of the three captains had turned against Kaido as soon as they could, or, technically, haven’t even joined in Kid’s case, he could guess that there had been resentment between them.

When he reached the top of the skull dome, the first thing he saw was Queen’s unconscious body on the ground. The All Star was still breathing, which he quickly fixed with a burst of magma. Then he saw one of the Tobiroppos, and it took him a second to recognize Page One in his human form, unconscious on the floor with sea stone cuffs on his wrists. Probably Drake’s work then, he would let him have his arrests. A body flew past him, and Drake tackled Ulti on the ground, one arm around her throat.

“Good job.” Said Sakazuki. Drake’s eyes widened in shock as he saw Kaido’s body.

Ulti made a growl of rage, absolute fury coursing through her. “How _dare_ you hurt Kaido-sama !”

“I didn’t hurt him.” Said Sakazuki, his voice carrying and the still fighting Beast Pirates slowed down in their fight. The sudden calm allowed him to notice that King was the only All Stars still up, the man hovering a few meters above the ground though he seemed fairly hurt. Jack's presence had totally disappeared, the smug air around the two Minks telling him who was responsible for his defeat. “I killed him.”

An air of shock settled above every fighter, the Samurais the first one to regain their minds and to throw themselves back into their fight with renewed fervor. The Beast Pirates took a second longer, and Ulti started to struggle against Drake’s hold, the marine keeping his firm grip on her. King flew toward him, but Black Leg met him in the air, sending him crashing into the ground with a powerful kick. The Straw Hats as well as some of the Kid Pirates that he could recognize from their bounties jumped toward King, and proceeded to finish to beat him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had to tone down the violence in this chapter. I, at first, had a whole paragraph for Kaido choking on his blood, which, really, wasn’t necessary, so I consider this an improvement. I think that this turned out well, not as underwhelming as I feared at first (because, you know, Admiral vs Yonko). Let me know what you thought !  
> Next chapter, we deal with the clean-up.


	22. Arrests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakazuki has won his fight against Kaido. Now, the Marines have to deal with all the pirates running around.

As soon as Drake’s crew had learned that Drake had betrayed the Beast Pirates, they had hidden themselves around Onigashima, hoping to find an opportunity to escape and get back to their Captain.

While the sudden assault wasn’t exactly what they were expecting, it didn’t take them long to see Drake fighting alongside the Kid, Hawkins, and Straw Hat’s pirates, which reassured them that he had a hand in this raid.

The Marines, especially Akainu, being present as well wasn’t good news, but they hoped that when the fight ended they would be more concerned by the real Beast Pirates than by them. The crew of the other Supernovas would try to escape too, and they would join in the effort.

Akainu was a problem, the man coming with Kaido’s dead body having announced the end of the fight, the rest of the Beast Pirates being quickly subdued after his arrival.

The Kid and Straw Hat’s Pirates had taken one look at Akainu before deciding to run, Straw Hat shouting something about how “Saka-man wasn’t a bad guy for a Marine” and about him stealing his fight, while his crew dragged him away.

Akainu had made a weird face hearing that, and quickly sent some Marines to chase after them.

Norrey threw a concerned glance at Drake, who was standing near other Marines without a care in the world. The Marines too seemed wary about him, but since Akainu hadn’t given them any order to take care of him, nor Hawkins who was apparently there without his crew, they hadn’t done anything.

“Sir ?” Finally asked one of the Marines, coming to salute in front of Akainu. “What should we do about them ?” He asked with one glance toward the Drake Pirates.

“Arrest them.” Ordered Akainu.

Norrey aimed his rifle and took a defensive posture. He expected Drake to attack the Marines, secure their escape, or at least attempt something to distract them and allow them to flee.

Drake crossed his arms over his chest, and kept looking straight ahead, not even sparing them a single glance.

Without their strongest fighter, and with Akainu near, it didn’t take long for them to find themselves in chains.

“Your day started ten minutes ago.” Said Akainu to Hawkins, who inclined his head in understanding and left the scene unbothered. 

“Captain.”

Drake didn’t give any indication that he had heard the word.

“Captain. Drake.” Insisted Norrey.

Not even a twitch.

“You betrayed us.” He breathed out, understanding downing him. The crew at his side protested, but he knew the truth. “For how long ?” He asked

“I didn’t betray you, because I never was with you in the first place.” Answered Drake, finally turning his head slightly to look at him.

A hush fell over the crew, their protest dying in their lips. The Marines around had slowed down in their process of securing the alive member of the Beast Pirates, all listening intently to the drama.

“... What ?”

“I never left the Marines.” Explained Drake.

“Why would you let us get captured ?” Stammered another member of the Drake Pirates.

“You are Pirates. It’s my job as a Marine to capture you.” Answered Drake, and he knew that he was riling them up, but he didn’t have to _justify_ himself to them.

“Bullshit. We were with you for three years. Don’t tell me that it counts for nothing, that you betrayed us like tha-”

“ _You_ betrayed me.” Growled Drake, and they fell silent. “Because the day you **joined the Marines** ,” the shout rang around the former battlefield, and he took a breath to center himself, “the day you joined the Marines” he repeated more calmly, “is the day you swore an oath on your honor, on your life, that you would protect the people. The day you started to wear the Justice coat is the day you promised to the world that you would follow justice, whatever it takes. Whatever problem you think the Marines are having that made you leave pale in comparison to the fact that you turned to a life of piracy.”

He paused for a few seconds, long enough to make his words sink in, before he continued in a low voice, “You betrayed everything I believe in, everything I stand for, the day you became a pirate.”

His former crew looked at him, not knowing how to react.

“Bring everyone to the warships.” Ordered Sakazuki, effectively putting an end to the conversation. The marines that had stopped working jerked and hurried to do their job before they attracted the Admiral’s attention.

“I have your Rear Admiral coat in my office.” He said in a low voice to Drake.

“... I never expected to be able to wear it again.” Admitted Drake. “I don’t think I’ll ever be trusted by anyone.”

“Let’s talk about it somewhere more private”

~~One Piece~~

As soon as they reached Sakazuki’s temporary office in one of the warships, the Admiral faltered, almost falling on the desk.

“Wha-” Stammered Drake, one hand outstretched toward Sakazuki as if he wanted to grab him, but wasn’t sure he was allowed to.

“Don’t worry about it.” Grunted Sakazuki. He managed to walk a few more steps toward his chair and let himself fall heavily in it. “There’s a medical kit in this closet, can you bring it to me ?”

Drake did so quickly, and watched in surprise as the Admiral removed his coat, revealing his bloodied arm.

“You’re hurt.” Said Drake.

“I see your time away from Marineford hadn’t lessened your observation skills.” Said Sakazuki. One glance toward Drake’s upset face, and he sighed. “Of course I’m hurt. I just fought one on one against Kaido, there isn’t a world where I can win without getting hurt.”

“I didn’t even notice.” Protested Drake.

“I certainly hope you didn’t. I came back with Kaido’s dead body, I couldn’t afford to show weakness less one of his crew decided to take me out in revenge.”

“Shouldn’t I call a doctor ?” Asked Drake as he watched Sakazuki bandaging expertly one-handedly his shoulder. He was pretty sure that he had caught a glimpse of bones, and Sakazuki was putting pressure on it like it didn’t even hurt.

“Not in enemy territory you’re not.” Ordered sharply Sakazuki. “I’ll see someone once we reach Marineford, but I can’t trust the doctors on his ship to shut up and be discreet about something _as important_ as me getting hurt.” He had spat out the last words. “The Marines need me to be invincible right now, and everyone here will talk about what they had seen. Making it look like I defeated a Yonko without problems will certainly damper a lot of people’s excitement about becoming a pirate or facing us.”

He produced an arm sling from somewhere, and let his arm rest in it.

“I probably have a couple of cracked ribs, and my arm is definitely broken. I’ll have to reappear outside in a few hours, so I’d rather not hurt myself more until then.” He explained at Drake’s look.

~~One Piece~~

Sakazuki indeed had a Rear Admiral coat in his office. As soon as it pointed it out for Drake, the zoan didn’t waste time removing his current leather jacket to drape the coat over his back, confirming that it had been tailored for him, the clothes hugging his shoulder just the right way. He wondered for a second how it could fit him that well since he had put on a lot of muscle mass over the years, but decided not to think too much about it.

He removed his mask as well, his gloves already destroyed sometime during his fight. The only thing left of the clothing style he had for years now were the leather pants, that he would replace as soon as he could, and the boots that he could admit he quite liked and would keep even if he was accepted back in the marines.

One of his hands came to grab lightly the coat just under his shoulder, where his rank was.

“I’ll get sent to one of the worst parts of the New World and be expected to die.” He said in a small voice.

“You’ll get a promotion out of this.” Promised Sakazuki. “The Gorosei loves you for what you did. Kaido had been becoming a too big threat. ”

“Maybe they understand, or you and even some Vice Admirals, but I’ll need more than that to work.”

“Drake, you’re not the first person that had been sent to infiltrate a pirate crew.”

“I’m not ?” He had never heard of something like that happening before. The rare Marines that had been high ranking and had defected without being killed quickly had just created their own crew, not joined another, more famous one.

“I know you don’t get much of the news in Wano, but you heard about Donquixote Doflamingo’s destitution from the Shichibukai, right ?”

“Not the details, but I know Kaido was pretty angry about it. Something about a business deal they had going on that would benefit him greatly and stopped.”

“He got taken down by another member of the Supernovas, Trafalgar Law. Trafalgar became a Shichibukai as well, and not long after came to the Marines with intel about Doflamingo underworld deals that violated his agreement with the World Government. Kuzan was sent there, and Doflamingo died from his wounds in the transit to Impel Down.” _Or at least that was the official story. The less official one had Doflamingo being killed by an unknown marine._

“Uh, so Law managed to take down Doflamingo.” He mused.

“I take it you know each other ?” Asked Sakazuki. He knew the answer, of course, but he would rather Drake tell him. It was hard, sometimes, to remember what he was supposed to know.

“I was on Minion Island, the day the Ope Ope no Mi got lost, I know what my father was dealing with at the time. When Law got his first bounty and his devil fruit got known, I understood that he was there as well. We talked a few times, I know that he was part of Doflamingo’s crew and lost someone that day.”

“You’re right. This someone is Donquixote Rosinante. He is Doflamingo’s little brother, and a Marine Commodore -he was a Commander back then. He was in Doflamingo’s crew for 5 years, even became his right-hand man. He didn’t manage to stop Doflamingo and had to stay branded as dead and as a pirate until a year and a half ago, where Doflamingo got stopped and the World Government promoted him and acknowledged that he was alive and one of us. His situation may be different, because your betrayal was publicized while most people quickly forgot his existence, but the thing is that he has a direct link to Doflamingo as his blood brother. And he still got accepted, and discrimination against him hasn’t been tolerated just as we will not tolerate it against you. This isn’t the North Blue, Drake. You have people here backing you up.”

“You know what I had to do to get into the Tobiroppos. When this gets declassified-” Started to protest Drake.

“It won’t be. Fuck, Drake, what do you think Rosinante did with the Donquixote Pirates ? They were already dealing in human trade back then, and he didn’t just turn a blind eye to it. He was just as ruthless as his brother, he needed to be. Do you know how many people would have died in the future if Kaido hadn’t been stopped ? The destruction of a village, hell, all the deaths you caused in your time as a pirate didn’t reach the hundreds, and it allowed you to save countless people. Don’t be too harsh on yourself.”

Drake sighed, one hand coming up to hide his eyes from view. He had gotten used to the mask, and he jerked when he felt his skin under his hand.

“I guess you just made it seem so easy.”

Sakazuki made a questioning sound.

“Not killing innocent people. Your record is probably the best since the creation of the Marines 800 years ago, and I thought… I thought I could really protect people, you know ? Not, I mean, not just hypothetically in the future, but the people in front of me. That when I saw someone unable to protect themselves in front of pirates, I would be there to fight for them and save their lives or die trying. Not be the one to burn up their house and kill their family in front of their eyes.”

“Don’t think of me as some sort of saint.” Countered Sakazuki. “I have killed people, have been responsible for deaths that I could have avoided had I been willing to let pirates escape. Had I been in your position, where showing how ruthless I am was needed to accomplish my mission, I wouldn’t have blinked at destroying entire towns. I wouldn’t have lost sleep over it either.” 

He certainly hadn’t lost sleep over Ohara, neither over the other islands he had destroyed without caring about the number of civilians on it in his first life. His habit to meditate before sleeping often kept the nightmares at bay, but even then he had mostly ones about his fight against Kuzan, where they had both come very close to death, and later of the feeling of helplessness he had in Impel Down or when facing Im. Hell, even Marineford had been more traumatizing because of his heavy loss against Whitebeard than because of the countless death that day.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ll introduce you to Rosinante if you want, he had a decade to come to terms with what he had to do for his job.”

“I’d like that, I think.” He rose his head just enough to be able to look at Sakazuki and sent him a grateful smile, which was quickly offset by a yawn.

“Stay here, nobody will bother you. There’s a bed in the room on the back of the office if you feel ready to have a real sleep and not just rest while sitting up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drake feels ! We’re done with Wano, or at least the Marines are... The rest of the world, not so much.  
> I’m taking a pause for the next 2 weeks because of exams.

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my first language, so I might make mistakes of typos. I reread myself as much as possible, but some sentences can still be awkward to read. Don't hesitate to point if you see something wrong.  
> Don't hesitate to review if you see something right either :p
> 
> Title from Muse's Unnatural Selection.


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